Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising
by Deadbeatloser22
Summary: Something is stirring in the darkness beneath Sinnoh, and it's soon time for a new group to take on the mantle of the Poké Rangers.
1. Chapter 1: Sunrise

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter One - Sunrise

Jon swung his bike down a side street, hoping to use this short-cut to make up time. He had an appointment to keep, and he was running late. He was wearing a red and black short-sleeved sweater, black cargo trousers and a pair of dark blue hiking boots. There was a navy-blue Pokétch on his left wrist and a slim pair of black dust goggles sat nestled in his dark brown hair, but no-one was really sure why. A travelling trainer he may have been, but there wasn't anywhere in the Sinnoh region to really warrant that sort of gear. He also wore a black back-pack with most of his gear in.

* * *

If he'd been paying attention, he might have noticed something moving in the shadows behind him. But he wasn't. He was too busy paying attention to the Team Galactic goon that had just accosted him, a Croagunk stood in front of him looking as intimidating as it could. Jon sighed.

"You do realise this isn't much of a contest? Monferno, you're up!"

He grabbed the first Pokéball from his belt, and tossed it into the street. A burst of white light formed into the shape of an orange monkey, with blue makings on it's face and a flame on the end of it's tail.

"Use Flame Wheel!"

Immediately, Jon's Monferno crouched down and began to spin, as flames began to cover it's body. Once it built up enough speed, it launched itself at the Croagunk, which was thrown a good ten feet down the road. The goon withdrew it, and beat a hasty retreat.

"Good job. Return." Jon withdrew his Monferno in a beam of red light, before picking up his bike again and cycling off through the streets of Veilstone City.

* * *

In a cave deep beneath Mount Coronet, something stirred in the darkness. Something powerful, something terrifying.

* * *

Jon locked up his bike outside the sports centre and went inside. He might have been a travelling Pokémon trainer, but this city was still his home.

"Hey! I was beginning to wonder if you'd show at all!"

Jon looked over at the table where the shout had come from. There were four people seated round it already. The shouter was Lucas Osborne, one of Jon's oldest friends. He was wearing a loose blue T-shirt and jeans, and his blonde hair was spiked up irregularly. Next to him was his younger sister, Sonja. She was wearing a close-fitting yellow T-shirt and white shorts, and her pale blonde hair was draped over one shoulder. Moving round the table, Jon could see Sonja's boyfriend, James Cooper. He was wearing a dark green hooded sweatshirt over a pair of black jeans, and his brown hair hung loosely over his face, to the point where Jon wondered how he could see out of his right eye. Next to him was Taki Woods. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and blue jeans, and her black hair was cut just below the top of her neck. Jon pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Sorry. Had a bit of goon trouble."

* * *

In the darkness, something stirred again._  
Free... At last... The time has come to sow ruin upon the world once again..._

* * *

The awakening was accompanied by a dark shockwave that seared across the sky. It could only be seen by most for a fraction of a second, and dismissed just as quickly. But on one island, out in the ocean to the north-west, something noticed._  
It is happening again... There is little time. I must carry out the backup plan..._

* * *

For the people in Veilstone, off to the east of Mount Coronet, the first anyone knew that something was really amiss was the arrival of a sudden storm. The skies went from perfectly clear to a very dark grey as the clouds rolled in. A lightning bolt split the sky as it began to rain, and hard.

"Well, that's just brilliant." The sarcasm in James' voice was so obvious it was painful.

Something slithered along the ground, darting from one shadow to another.

"What was that?" Sonja noticed the strange thing.

"That's just a Grimer. I hope." Jon saw it as well. It looked like a blob of tar, which then proceeded to form itself into a shape not unlike a Sableye. It had glowing yellow eyes and a rather nasty looking blade attached to the underside of it's left arm.

"That's no Grimer." James' little crack of the obvious got Jon rolling his eyes.

"Ya think?"

Then more of them started to appear, swarming through the street. Almost at once, the group disappeared in a flash of multi-coloured light.

* * *

When the light faded, they were in a wood somewhere.

"What happened, and where are we?" The whole experience had left everyone confused, but Lucas was the only one showing it. Jon was stood behind him, cycling through the apps on his Pokétch, trying to find the map. It didn't help.

"Well, we're off the charts. Let's get moving; see if we can't find a way out."

Working their way through the wood, the group eventually came upon a clearing. Behind them, the trees shifted, blocking the only exit. A light began to shine in the middle of the clearing._  
_

_You made it at last..._

The voice had a strange, almost ethereal quality to it, like a choir of angels.

"What's going on?" Jon shouted, as the light began to marshal itself into a recognisable form._  
_

_I need help from all of you._

"What sort of help?" Lucas was quizzical._  
_

_There is a great evil that now threatens the world. You are the only ones that can stop it. And yet, there is nothing you can do right now._

"Why not?"_  
_

_There is a power you must wield if you are to have any hope of defeating the forces that stand against the light._

"What do you need us to do?" Jon was back in the lead._  
_

_Take up the role. Wield the power of the Poké Ranger and, and fight the darkness._

At once, in another flash of light, something materialised on everyone's belts. Jon plucked the strange item off from where it was nested behind his Poké balls. It looked a lot like them; it was a circular object, about an inch and a half across, with a silver panel and three buttons on it. The device was bisected by a black line, and the area below was coloured white, the area above coloured red. The panel had a small image embossed into it, and looking closer Jon could see it looked like an Infernape. He looked round, and saw that everyone else now held one of these devices as well. Lucas' was blue, and carried an image of an Empoleon. Sonja's was yellow, and bore a Pachirisu. James' was Green, with a Torterra on it, and Taki's was Pink, with a Medicham._  
_

_I regret that I cannot provide you with much more assistance at this point, but I lack the power to even hold any corporeal form. You will know, though, what to do when the time comes._

* * *

And then, with another flash of coloured light, the group disappeared once more, being deposited back in front of the sport centre where they'd started.

"Well, that was weird. But what did it all mean?" Taki was confused.

"You've heard the stories, haven't you? Groups appearing, fighting an indescribable evil and then disappearing just as quickly?"

"Just because you heard about it on the road doesn't make it true." James was begin sceptical. He seemed to do this arbitrarily.

"No, I heard about it happening in Hoenn a few years back. It's true." Sonja came to Jon's defence on the matter.

* * *

If they'd been paying attention, they'd have noticed a faint sucking sound as a number of the strange creatures appeared, encircling them. One of the creatures made a slash for Lucas' throat, but he dodged, countering it by punching the creature in what appeared to be it's face. Jon put a roundhouse kick into the chest of another, but it grabbed his leg and tossed him away. The others were having a similar lack of success trying to fight.

_

* * *

Rangers! You can defeat these creatures, but you need to morph first!_  
It was the strange voice again. Everyone exchanged blank looks for a second, then grabbed the strange devices from their belts.

"All right, everyone ready?" Jon called, and the others gave an affirmative.

"Fire it up!"

One by one they each activated their morphers.

"Pink Medicham Power!" Taki called, as a white light streaked with pink shout out of her morpher and up her arms, before covering her body, and eventually faded to reveal her wearing a pink suit, with white bands around the upper arms, a silver Pokéball on the left side of the chest and a helmet styled to look like a Medicham's head, as well as a white belt, gloves and boots.

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!" Sonja repeated the action, and this time there were lightning bolt like streaks of yellow in the light, leaving behind a yellow suit with a helmet modelled on a Pachirisu, only in Yellow instead of white.

"Green Torterra Power!" James' morpher released a burst of white light laced with vines, and left behind a green suit, complete with Torterra styled helmet.

"Blue Empoleon Power!" Lucas' morpher let out a wave of white light covered in streaks of water, leaving a blue suit with an Empoleon-esque helmet in it's wake. A black visor sat in the beak area, roughly where his eyes would be.

"Red Infernape Power!" Jon's morpher let out a blast of light streaked with fire, which settled into a red suit with a helmet based on an Infernape, markings and all.

* * *

Lined up, the five new Rangers faced down their attackers, who promptly charged at them, flailing madly. Lucas immediately dodged to one side, pushing the nearest creature over his leg as it passed. It slammed into the ground and vanished in a blast of ink-blue smoke. James smashed one across the back of the head with the side of his hand, sending it crumpling. Sonja delivered an open-hand strike to the chest of the one towering over her, and Taki whipped the legs out from underneath another with a low kick. Jon, meanwhile, preferred simply to high-kick one in the face. And yet, they kept coming._  
_

_You need to use your Blaster Sabres to defeat these creatures._

Realising what the voice meant this time, James grabbed the pistol from his belt, flipping the barrel up to generate a blade. Everyone else followed suit, before going to work on the swarm. Even with weapons, it was still no mean feat to take down so many. And yet somehow, they managed it.

* * *

In the cave beneath Mount Coronet, whatever it was that lurked in the Darkness was pleasantly amused by this new development._  
Intriguing. Do these fools really think they can stop me? They can have their fun for now, but soon..._

* * *

The group had been warped back to the forest clearing, which it seemed had changed substantially in the short amount of time since they were last there. The trees had formed themselves into screens and tables, the entire area forming a viable headquarters for what was likely to come. The light was now a ball in the centre of the clearing._  
_

_Well done Rangers. But the real test of your power is only just beginning. The creatures you fought today, we call them Karicas. But they are only a fraction of the power that the darkness can unleash upon the world. However, whilst you hold this power, it must remain a secret; tell no-one who you are. Doing so would only make your families a target of the darkness' wrath._

* * *

Later that afternoon, the group was back in the sports centre, listening as others tried to explain what they'd seen, trying to rationalise it. Everything from Team Galactic spiking the water with hallucinogens to aliens. Jon sighed and shook his head.

"It's amazing what people will come up with to try and explain the inexplicable."

"Human nature, I guess. Shame we can't tell them the truth." Lucas was acting the realist.

Jon laughed under his breath.

"True. Oh well..."

"Guess this means you've got to stop your Gym challenge then?"

Jon sighed again. Reaching the League Championship had always been his dream.

"Probably. There's always next year, though..."

* * *

A/N: So there we are, chapter one. This is _probably_ going to be the longest one, at least until I get to the end. But even then I don't know!


	2. Chapter 2: Lock 'n' Load

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Two: Lock 'n' Load.

It was a relatively quiet day at the sports centre. Jon and Lucas were playing pool, James had decided to hit the gym, and Taki and Sonja had disappeared, to what end no-one knew. After their first encounter, they hadn't seen Karicas or anything like them anywhere. Jon struck the cue ball, sending it ricocheting off two cushions and anything but the ball he'd been trying to hit. He sighed; he'd never really been much good at the game, after all.

"So, maybe it was all a one-off thing then?"

"Somehow, I doubt it." Lucas was always the realist in every situation. "What was it the light said? The real test is only just beginning, or something like that." The general level of noise meant they could comfortably discuss their secret without fear of being overheard by anyone not specifically paying attention. And to be fair, no-one was likely to be. James came over. His hair was out of his face, but was spiked up from a combination of sweat and having a towel passed through it.

"True, but I can't see how it can get much worse. I mean, if all there is are those Karica things, we can take them easily." Jon was getting hot-headed again. It wasn't hard to see why he preferred fire-types.

"As if it's gonna be _that_ easy..."

* * *

Beneath Mount Coronet, the entity in the darkness was watching them intently.

_How dare they mock my power so! Never mind. I will show them how wrong they are...

* * *

_

The Trio left the sports centre, only to be confronted by a line of Karicas, whose sudden appearance sent everyone in the street running in fear. The three boys, however, simply shifted into a ready stance.

"Still think we can take them?" James was being sarcastic again.

"Would I really have said it if I didn't?"

* * *

On the island, something in the trees pulsed red gently. A Light Screen shimmered into view between two tree trunks, showing the three boys fighting the Karicas.

_Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Where are the others?

* * *

_

Across town, Taki's morpher beeped. She plucked it from her waistband. In place of the image of the Medicham that normally adorned it was a screen showing the forest clearing, and the light within it. Sonja was walking behind her, and jogged alongside to see what was happening.

"What is it?"

"_The other rangers need help – the Karicas have returned."_

"Where are they?"

_"I can teleport you straight to them – stand by."_

"Right." Taki turned to Sonja. "We need to get out of sight, now."

The pair ducked into an alleyway, just before shafts of pink and yellow light swallowed them.

* * *

The shafts deposited them outside the sports centre, where the boys were fighting the group of Karicas that were already there.

The voice in the darkness laughed.

_So, they are all there now. Time to show them real power..._

The Karicas fell back into a line, and the five faced them down. However, the Karicas then began to melt back into the ground, and then formed into a single mass which rose out of it. It solidified into a new form, which resembled a Machoke with dark blue skin and black veins running across its arms. Jon simply pulled his morpher from his belt.

"Everyone ready?"

The other four gave an affirmative.

"Power of light, PokéRangers unite! Red Infernape Power!" In truth, Jon had made up that call on the spot; he felt it was more fitting than what he'd used before.

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

Once the light-show finished, the five Rangers stood across from the monster, which simply laughed at them.

"Oh come on! Do you really think you can take me?" As if to prove his point, he charged at the Rangers like a bull. They parted, and the monster carried on into a solid wall, which he smashed straight through.

"Whoa... He's like some sort of Juggernaut." Lucas noted, with just a hint of awe.

"Cool. So how do we stop him before he does any more damage?" Jon drew his Blaster Sabre as he talked, putting three bolts into the monster's back. It turned to face them again.

"Hey! That tickles!" The monster then charged again. James pulled out his Sabre, flicked the blade into position and delivered a strike to a point right between its shoulders. It didn't make any difference, except keeping him from slamming into another wall.

"When are you gonna get it? Your weapons are useless against me!"

"_Rangers! He is correct, for now. Fall back to the Island."_

"Right." Jon hit a spot on his left gauntlet, which activated the teleporter, swallowing all five in a shaft of light in their respective colour.

* * *

The Rangers materialised in the forest clearing, and removed their helmets, setting them down on a stand that had formed itself out of the branches.

"So what can we do then, if our weapons don't work?" Sonja was quizzical.

_It is true that your Blaster Sabres have no effect on this monster. But those are not the only weapons at your disposal._

The light had formed itself into a more coherent shape now, and was no longer just a shimmering ball. It's power was slowly returning.

_You have access to other weapons as well. These are tied into your individual powers, and can deliver stronger elemental-type attacks rather than the normal-type attacks of your Blaster Sabres._

Five new weapons appeared, one in the hands of each Ranger. Jon held a chain-whip, which glowed with a red and orange light.

_The Fire Tail – capable of striking flame into the heart of any foe._

Lucas held a fin-styled broadsword.

_The Hydro Fin – it will sink the power of any opponent._

James was holding a large shield with a dial on the front.

_The Shell Shield – sometimes the best offence is a good defence._

Sonja had a pair of spikes that could be joined together to form a short staff.

_The Electro-Stingers – striking where the enemy is most vulnerable._

Taki had a short bow.

_The Psyche-bow – delivering a charged psychic blast to where it hurts the most. With these weapons you will be able to defeat your newest foe._

"All right. Let's get back out there!"

* * *

The Rangers materialised behind the dark Machoke, weapons in hand.

"Hey big guy. Going somewhere?"

"Back for more, huh? Hope you're ready to fight this time." He hunched down, and charged at them again. They scattered, with Sonja driving her stingers into the back of his legs as it passed. He yelped in pain, spun round, and charged again, realising too late that he was heading straight for James' shield. He bounced off, and rolled a good twenty feet before standing again.

"Hey! No fair!"

A pink bolt lancing out of the shadows almost knocked him straight back down again. Taki notched another arrow, firing it into his shoulder, providing enough of a distraction for Lucas to strike him in the back. Before he could recover, Jon launched into a spin, trailing the Fire Tail behind him. It struck the monster square in the face, a fireball marking the point where it impacted.

"All right! Let's finish this!"

The five Rangers combined their weapons into a large cannon, with the Hydro fin as it's base, the Shell shield mounted on top and ringed by the Fire Tail, the Psyche Bow mounted on the front and the Electro-Stingers attached to it as a pair of bayonet-like spikes. Jon turned the dial on the shield to the pink segment.

"Psybeam!" The five called in unison, and a pink blast rocketed from the front of the cannon, straight into the monster, which promptly exploded in a large fireball.

* * *

_No! This cannot be!_

The voice in the darkness was shocked once more by this latest turn of events.

_It seems I must use more power to defeat these insolent fools.

* * *

_

Later, the group was back in the sports centre. There was a TV switched on, and tuned to a news program.

"_...More on that story later. But first, it seems that Veilstone City has acquired its own group of protectors not unlike the PokéRangers seen elsewhere..."_

The TV picture showed a video of their final attack, apparently shot on a hand-held camera. Obviously the crew hadn't made it in time to set up the tripod or something. Lucas shook his head.

"Well, they can't claim hallucinogenics now. Not when someone's got it on tape, and certainly not when they've drawn a comparison with something everyone agreed happened."  
Taki rested one hand across her forehead and sighed.

"That's rich, you know. A week ago, you wouldn't even accept any of that had happened before."

"That's because I didn't know then what I know now."

"Well, at least we know it's actually going to be a challenge now, rather than the walk in the park I thought it was before." Jon opted to play the realist this time.

"When did you start thinking like that? Nothing's usually a challenge as far as you're concerned!" Sonja perked up. She was right – Jon's trademark hot-headedness meant he never really thought of anything as being too hard for him. They all knew it was going to get him into trouble eventually.


	3. Chapter 3: Seeing Red

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Three – Seeing Red.

Jon was stood outside the Veilstone city Gym. It was going to be the last one he challenged before ending his run due to his new commitments as a Ranger.

"Hey! Who's there?" Someone was standing guard at the door.

"Jon Rose, Trainer number 48506" He reached into his chest pocket and dug out his Pokédex, flipping it open to reveal his trainer card.

"All right. Head on through." Whoever it was on the door sized Jon up briefly. "You look like a pushover anyway."

Across the street, Lucas and Sonja were watching him.

"Think he'll manage it?"

"What? Getting his third badge or working in a team?" Lucas was a bit sarcastic. He'd known Jon for a long time, and he'd always seemed like a bit of a lone wolf. Maybe that was why he left in the first place, escaping restriction for a bit.

"Both."

"I dunno. He's a strong trainer, but maybe not strong enough."

Something red and orange flashed out of one of the upper windows. They'd started.

"In a team though? Probably not, at least for now."

* * *

Beneath the Mountain, more Darkness flooded into a chamber. It was beginning to take form, but it still had a long way to go. It watched what was unfolding in the Gym.

_Hmmm... So, the Rangers' unity is questionable. I do believe I can make this work to my advantage...

* * *

_

The three of them met up outside the Sports centre. Jon had lost his battle, and seemed to be silently fuming about it. Once inside, Lucas ordered drinks, and the group sat down at a table. If Jon had been paying attention, he might have noticed a small wisp of darkness curling around, before settling into his glass. He took a sip, and the darkness slid out, flowing gently through the corner of his right eye. His cheek twitched slightly, and his eyes turned yellow. Not that anyone noticed.

* * *

A group of Karicas moved from one shadow to another as the three left the centre. On cue, they took on humanoid form and faced the trio down. Jon immediately charged straight for them.

"What are you doing? You can't take them alone!"

"Watch me."

He reached the line, and tried to deliver a running punch. The Karica simply catapulted him into a wall. He leapt to his feet, and tried to attack it again, with similar results. Meanwhile, James and Taki arrived in shafts of light.

"What does he think he's doing?"

"Dunno. He seems to think he doesn't need help. It's like he's more of a hot-head than normal."

Lucas grabbed his morpher from his belt, hitting the left button to activate the communicator.

"We've got a problem here, something's spun Jon's behaviour on it's head. What do you make of it?"

* * *

The light was watching what was happening on the screen in the trees.

_I am unsure. Whatever is causing this unusual behaviour is unlike anything I have seen before. It is also impeding the teleporter; I cannot target him individually._

"_What should we do?"_

_Get into direct contact; I can teleport both of you together._

"_Gotcha."

* * *

_

Lucas clipped his morpher back into place, broke into a run and tackled Jon to the floor, lashing out with a kick at the nearest Karica as it tried to take advantage.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"You'll thank me later."

At once, a blue shaft enveloped the pair, carrying them off into the sky.

* * *

In the clearing, Jon was immediately restrained by the branches. It was not an easy task.

_This is not good at all. The darkness has placed him under a small amount of his influence. Not enough to exert control, but enough to drive his personality to extremes._

"Which would explain why he's more impetuous than normal. But how can you tell?"

_His eyes._

Lucas leant in closer, and noticed that Jon's eyes had turned a golden-yellow colour, rather than brown like they normally were.

"Is there anything you can do?"

_Yes, but the easiest way is for him to break the control himself._

The trees pulsed red again. On the screen the Karicas had formed into an Arcanine, which had begun to attack the others.

"I've got to get back out there." And with that, Lucas disappeared in a shaft of blue light.

* * *

Lucas emerged out on the street beside the other three.

"How bad?"

"Very." James heaved himself up off the floor.

"All right. Here goes. Ready?"

"As ready as I'm ever gonna be."

Lucas pulled his morpher from his belt, and everyone else followed suit.

"Power of light, Poké Rangers unite! Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

The Dark Arcanine then charged straight at them, and delivered a jumping slash at Lucas.

* * *

The battle was being projected onto the tree-screen.

_They cannot handle this alone. They need your help._

"Well, they would."

_Except that you cannot do this alone either. You need them as well._

"Get real."  
_I am afraid it is true. Your powers come from your ability to work as a team; something your attitude conflicts with._

On the screen, the four Rangers were scattered by a Fire Blast.

_You can either stand by your lone-wolf tendencies and watch them get destroyed, or you can be a team player and save them. Your choice._

The gold colour in Jon's eyes fluctuated slightly; he was beginning to fight against the darkness.

* * *

Lucas loosed off a blot from his Blaster Sabre, which caught the charging Dark Arcanine in the shoulder and made it change direction slightly, allowing him to deliver a strike with the Hydro-Fin as it passed. At least, that was his plan. What actually happened was The dark Pokémon ignored the bolt and ran straight for him, forcing him to dive out of the way. A pink arrow soared past his head as Taki took a shot at it. The bolt slammed into the back of it's leg, sending it crashing to the floor, where it struggled to get up. More Karicas rushed from the shadows and began to heal it.

"We can't stop it. Every time we bring it down it just gets right back up again."

As if on some sort of cue a blaster bolt whipped out of nowhere and caught one of the Karicas in the side of the head, making it explode. The pair turned to see Jon, Sabre in hand.

"Did I miss the party?"

"Not yet, we're just getting started."  
"Right. Let's set this up."  
The five of them combined weapons to form the cannon. Jon turned the dial to the blue setting.

"Hydro-Pump! Go!"

A stream of water lanced out of the front of the cannon, striking the Dark Arcanine, and causing it to explode violently.

* * *

_Impressive. But that is not all the power I gave you. **GROW.

* * *

**_

More Karicas rushed from the shadows, making the corpse of the Dark Arcanine grow to epic proportions.

"So now what do we do?"

"_Rangers! You can summon your Zords to deal with this more powerful threat!"_

"Right. Everyone ready?" Jon was determined to keep this a team fight.

The other four gave an affirmative.

"OK. Poké Zords, Engage!"

Somewhere, a group of five giant bio-mechanical Pokémon rose out of the ground, and rushed towards Veilstone city. The five Rangers were immediately teleported to their respective cockpits.

"All right. Sinnoh Megazord, combination sequence engage!"

At once, the Medicham and Pachirisu Zords dropped to the floor, and folded up to form a pair of legs. The Empoleon Zord then leapfrogged the Torterra Zord and connected with the pair, forming the hips of the growing mecha. The Infernape Zord then leapt up and settled into place on top of this, forming the chest and arms. Finally, the Torterra Zord climbed on, forming the back. It's head folded back revealing the head of the completed Sinnoh Megazord.

* * *

_Fools. Even with this they cannot hope to stop me.

* * *

_

The Megazord faced down the giant Dark Arcanine, which proceeded to launch a fireball at it. Lucas hit a button experimentally, which made the mecha dive into a combat roll to dodge the blast.

"Activate Megazord Sabre!"

The mecha reached onto its back and drew a long, thin and slightly curved sword. Unimpressed, the Dark Arcanine launched another fireball. Jon pulled on the stick in his right hand, which made the Megazord raise the sabre to reflect the blast back at it's launcher. The Megazord then moved into attack, delivering slash after slash into its opponent.

"Seismic Toss!"

The Megazord seized the Dark Arcanine and threw it in to the air. As it came back down it slashed through the enemy with its sabre, sending it flying off towards the mountains, where it exploded in the distance.

* * *

Jon was back in the Gym again. The difference was that this time he wasn't expecting it to be a pushover like he had before.

"Come on, you can do this!"

That, and he wasn't going it alone this time either.

"All right then. One more to go. Growlithe! Use Fire Fang!"  
The red dog-like Pokémon dashed the length of the arena, jumped up, and sunk its teeth into Maylene's Lucario. It swung it about a few times, then tossed it away, causing it to faint.

"Not bad, for a rookie. Catch." The Gym leader tossed something to him. He barely caught it before it hit the floor. A silver-coloured diamond shape, with a pair of red "i"s on it. The Cobble Badge.

* * *

Not that long after, the five of them were sat in the Sports Centre again, watching the news broadcast. This time, the crew had caught the fight from on top of a building. Not that it was hard to miss or anything; it's a bit hard not to notice a twenty-story tall robot beating up a giant Pok_é_mon.

_"Epic scenes down-town as the Pok__é__Rangers entered into battle once again. Whatever it is that's bringing these creatures here, I just know it won't succeed as long as they keep fighting."_

A/N: So there we are then, the obligatory _Red Ranger learns to work in a team_ plot. Just for the record, yes, that's my trainer number up there. Not that anyone was likely to ask.


	4. Chapter 4: Stonewalled

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Four – Stonewalled

Things had been quiet since the last battle. To be fair, though, everyone knew it wasn't going to stay that way. At least, not for long. Sure, there was the occasional Karica popping up in the streets, but nothing major like the last two times.

* * *

Jon was back playing pool again. Eventually, he thought, he was going to get good at it. James fired one of the red balls into the corner pocket, before bouncing another and missing. He looked up, and noticed that Jon wasn't really paying attention. His mind was wandering.

"Hey. You in there? It's your shot."

"Is it? Sorry."

"Still thinking about what happened?"

"I guess so. It's just that... It took control so easily. And it could happen to anyone."

* * *

Somewhere in the world, someone sneezed.

* * *

"Maybe. Come on, lighten up a bit, it's over now."

Jon laughed a bit under his breath.

"Yeah. I guess so." He took the shot, and missed. Again.

* * *

_He broke from my control; he must be made to pay._

The voice in the Darkness was not happy at all.

* * *

Outside, the normal atmosphere was disrupted by a rumbling sound. James looked over his shoulder, and saw a large black rock barrelling down the street, making everyone scatter.

"Look out!"

The pair dived out of the way just as the boulder shot past.

"What was that?"

"No idea. But I get the feeling we're gonna find out soon enough."

"What are you thinking? Follow it?"

"Yup."

* * *

The boulder continued it's rampage through the streets, smashing through anything that stood in the way. The two boys tried to keep pace, but failed.

"_Rangers! The object you are chasing is radiating a large amount of Dark Energy. Be careful."_

James grabbed his morpher from his belt, switching it to communicator mode.

"Whatever it is, we can't keep up with it on foot."  
"_Teleport in; the others are waiting and there may be something that can help you."_

"Right."

* * *

In the clearing, all five Rangers gathered.

_This new creature is fast, but you can be faster._

"How?" Lucas didn't understand.

_With these._

A wall of branches slid back, revealing five sleek dirt bikes. Each bore the head of a Garchomp on the front, the front forks were styled on its wings, and the tail ran over the rear mudguard.

_These Garchomp cycles will allow you to keep pace with even the swiftest of foes._

"All right." Jon was back in command. "Saddle up; let's get back out there."

Everyone grabbed their morphers.

"Power of light, Poké Rangers unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

* * *

The Dark boulder charged down another street, narrowly missing the News van that had parked up on the corner. The close call almost made the driver spill the coffee he was drinking all over himself, something which happened for real when the five dirt bikes tore past. He fired up the engine, and levered it out of the parking spot.

* * *

Lucas manoeuvred in behind the boulder, and pressed the button under his right thumb, which triggered a hail of laser bolts aimed right at the enemy. It stopped rolling, bounced into the air, and landed on it's feet, revealing itself to be a Dark Golem.

"Whoa. That hurt." It raised its hand, and an explosion erupted in the street behind the Rangers. Jon put his cycle into a slide, and drew the Fire Tail. He struck the Dark Pokémon on the back of the legs, to no effect.

_Of course. Rock's resistant to Fire._

He was mentally kicking himself for not realising that. Lucas sped past, striking it higher up on the back with the Hydro Fin. It made the Dark Golem stagger, and it followed up by causing another explosion under Lucas' rear tire. He spun his bike out, as James bashed the Dark Golem with his shield, and Taki delivered a Psyche-bolt right into where the small of its back would have been. It staggered, and then collapsed. The Rangers dismounted, and began to set up the cannon.

"Ready?" Jon set the dial to green. Everyone else gave an affirmative.

"Solarbeam!"

The cannon barrel glowed briefly, then a powerful beam of white light lanced out and struck the Golem full force. It was enveloped in the explosion, leaving a corpse behind that slowly leaked Darkness.

* * *

_NO. This is impossible._

The voice seemed to be playing up the villain stereotype. Thankfully no-one was around to hear it.

_**GROW.

* * *

**_

At once, more Karicas formed in the shadows and sped into the downed Golem. James wasn't impressed.

"Here we go again."

"Right. Poké Zords, Engage!"

The five giant Pokémon awakened. The Infernape Zord rose out of the ground on Iron Island, the Empoleon Zord emerged from the sea near Sunnyshore City, the Torterra Zord slept deep within Eterna Forest, the Pachirisu Zord leapt off the mountain by the Valley Windworks, and the Medicham Zord awoke from its meditation by the Sendoff Spring. As they neared Veilstone, each Ranger was teleported into their cockpit. The Golem aimed another explosion at the Zords as they approached, but missed.

"Sinnoh Megazord, combination sequence engage!"

The Pachirisu and Medicham Zords laid down and folded up into their leg shapes, allowing the Empoleon Zord to climb on top. The Infernape Zord then grabbed hold of the combined unit and attached itself to the top, before the whole unit dropped to the floor to allow the Torterra Zord to climb on, forming the back plate and head. The Megazord drew its Sabre as it stood up, and the Golem set off another explosion just as it reached its full height, silhouetting it.

"All right. It's time to take you down!" Jon hit a button on the panel in front of him. "Psycho Cut!"

The Megazord's sabre began to glow with a magenta light, and it proceeded to deliver a slash right through it, repeating several times.

"Let's finish this. Seismic Toss!"

The Megazord grabbed the weakened Golem, and threw it into the air, striking it with the Sabre as it came back down, and sending it spinning into the side of Mount Coronet, where it detonated quite spectacularly.

* * *

Jon was sat by himself in the Sports Centre.

"Hey. How are you holding up?"

He looked up. Taki was stood next to him.

"Hey. I think I'm starting to get over it all."

"You know, if you keep isolating yourself like this, then you aren't going to solve the problem. It tried to drive you apart from everyone else, you make it too easy."

Jon laughed under his breath.

"True enough..."


	5. Chapter 5: Goin' Underground

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Five – Goin' Underground.

There is a network of tunnels running underneath Sinnoh. Most of these have been explored and mapped. The Underground. But not all of them.

A group of miners moved deeper into the tunnel. They were a long way off the charts; none of them knew what was up ahead.

"Hey, get a load of this!"

The three of them gathered around a single rock, bathed in the glow of the lights mounted on their helmets. The rock was adorned with a single black star, which pulsed with an unnatural light. One of them prodded the star gently with the tip of his pickaxe.

And then the rock exploded in a wave of Dark energy.

* * *

In the forest clearing, the trees pulsed a more intense shade of red than normal; this was serious.

_Rangers, assemble! We have a serious situation on our hands._

At once, the five shafts of light deposited the Rangers in the clearing.

_Something has happened in the Underground. Something with a large Dark Energy quotient caused an explosion; whatever it was, somehow it was able to avoid detection all this time.

* * *

_

The Light in the forest was not the only one to notice the explosion; the Darkness in the mountain detected it as well.

_Excellent. This is just what I needed. Another portal into the world...

* * *

_

"Whatever it is, we need to find it and stop it, I take it?"

_Correct. However, something that powerful may be too much for you to handle. Be careful.

* * *

_

The section of Underground they teleported into was almost pitch black, lit only by the softly glowing spheres embedded in the wall. Lucas reached down and switched on the torch strapped to his wrist, bathing the area in front of him in a slightly bluish-white light.

"So where are we?"

"Best guess, we're in the tunnels under Iron Island." Jon shone his torch down the passage, then back onto his Pokétch. "And the explosion came from that way. Let's get moving."

* * *

Soon, the spheres' light faded entirely, and the only illumination was from the group's torches. Suddenly, the floor seemed to drop away, and in the torchlight they could see a huge spherical cavern. Lucas' morpher began to beep quietly, followed by everyone else's; they could sense the darkness ahead.

"Oh well. Only one way to go..." Lucas sat down on the edge, and pushed himself off, sliding down the side of the sphere. James rolled his eyes, and followed. Jon would have followed third, but he screwed up his move and wound up rolling down rather than sliding in a controlled way like everyone else. He picked himself up at the bottom and dusted himself down like nothing had happened.

"It's OK, I meant to do that." He shouted quickly.

Eventually, the two girls slid down to join them. Sonja looked up.

"What's that?"

'That' was a roiling mass of purple... stuff. At least, that's how they'd describe it later. It seemed to shine by itself, and absorbed the torchlight.

"Darkness?" James was confused. At least, he was until a shimmering purple tentacle grabbed him and dragged him into it, along with everyone else, the sphere closing behind them with a sucking sound.

* * *

The area inside the sphere seemed to have no boundaries; it stretched out further than the sphere's size suggested was possible.

"Where... where are we?" Taki came round first. The five of them were laying on some sort of platform made of energy, and surrounded by a boiling sea of purple clouds.

"If I had to guess... We're in another dimension." Lucas seemed to be able to tell this simply by glancing.

"Uh-huh. What was your first clue?" James sat up. However, before he could get an answer, a familiar sound drew their attention to the multitude of Karicas that had surrounded them. Everyone jumped up and assumed various ready stances.

"Everyone set?" Jon found his hand straying to his belt. Everyone else seemed to be up for it.

"All right." He grabbed his morpher in his right hand, and thrust it forward with both, his left hand behind. Everyone else followed, the same action they had done each time before.

"Power of light, Poké Rangers unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

The flash in the darkness seemed to disorient the nearest Karicas briefly, giving the freshly morphed Rangers an opportunity to break through their line and split them up. However, the Karicas vanished just as suddenly as they'd arrived.

"Right. I think it's safe to say this is their territory." Jon noted dryly.

* * *

"Hey! I found someone." Sonja turned over the unconscious man; it was one of the miners who'd opened the portal in the first place. He was pale, as if the life had been drained out of him by some strange force. The other two lay near by, both in a similar comatose state. Jon tapped his gauntlet, trying to activate the communicator.

"Nothing but static. We're on our own in here."

It was then that they noticed the black and grey Absol stood a few yards away, glowering at them with gold eyes.

"OK. That's weird."

Then a number of Karicas sped out of nowhere and merged with it, giving it a more humanoid form which towered over the Rangers, clad in some sort of grey armour.

"That's not weird, it's insane." To be fair, even with what James had seen so far, this was entirely new for all of them. And yet, it didn't do anything, except stand there watching them.

"What are you?" Jon shouted.

_I am your end. That is all you need to know._

Jon felt his hand straying towards his blaster.

_Now, now. Don't be so hasty._

The encounter was becoming a war of nerves; who was going to snap first?

* * *

Sadly, it was Lucas who snapped, whipping out his blaster and putting a bolt right between the creature's eyes.

_Excellent shot, but a bad idea._

The creature raised its hand, and tossed Lucas aside, a wave of darkness sliding over his suit. He staggered to his feet, before collapsing again.

"No!" Sonja ran to her brother's side, rolling him on to his back. He was alive, somehow.

_Hmm... you're stronger than I expected._

"Is that really a surprise?"

_No. No it isn't really._

A pink bolt jetted out of the shadows as Taki launched a Psyche-Arrow at the creature. It simply dissipated around the creature's chest.

_Foolish._

However, the tentacle was blocked before it could strike, bouncing right off of James' shield. The energy blast caused a section of empty space to apparently shatter, revealing the cavern that had been created when the portal opened.

_Interesting... Freedom at last._

"Wait, what?" Jon only managed to get that one quip out before the creature transformed again, this time into a ball of light, and zoomed through the hole, and out into the cavern.

"What was that?" Lucas sat up weakly.

"I don't know. But we need to find it and stop it. Can you walk?" Jon held out his hand.

"I think so." Lucas grabbed on and hauled himself up.

"Good. Let's get these three to safety."

* * *

Outside, Jon's communicator perked back up, once it was able to get a signal.

"_Rangers! What happened? You disappeared beyond my sight for some time."_

"Something involving a dark portal or something. Whatever it was, we found the miners, and they're alive, just drained somehow. We ran into some weird Absol-like creature that escaped into the caverns."

"_I see." _The voice sounded troubled. _"Find it quickly, and be careful; even in the light world it may still be too powerful for you to handle."_

"Understood." Jon tapped the side of his helmet, shutting off the communicator, and the three miners disappeared in a shaft of white light as the teleporter returned them to the surface. "Light world? What does that mean?"

* * *

The five Rangers moved on through the cavern, following the trail of dark energy; a trail which lead them into a more natural open area. Up above, they could see daylight. And the creature they were following was stood in the centre, waiting for them.

_So you made it. Congratulations._

He immediately summoned a pair of energy tentacles. Everyone drew weapons in response.

_So, you want to make a fight of it? So be it._

The tentacles lashed out. One grabbed James by the leg, hoisting him into the air, forcing him to drop his shield and draw his Blaster Sabre to cut himself loose. Lucas was able to block the other with the Hydro Fin, causing it to coil around and giving everyone else an opening to attack. Sonja zipped round behind it, before throwing both stingers at the creature's knees, making it double over. Jon then followed up with a spinning attack with the Fire Tail, striking it right in the face, which had been brought down to his level by the attack. The fireball knocked the creature back a good twenty feet, and it struggled to get back up.

"All right! Let's set it up!"

The team set the cannon up quickly, with the dial set to the red segment.

"Fire Blast!"

The subsequent explosion engulfed the creature, but somehow did not destroy it; merely weakening it severely.

_This... Is not the end..._

It then shifted into a ball of black light and soared off into the sky.

* * *

"_Three miners feared dead after an explosion in the Underground were recovered by a rescue team just outside Canalave City. They were transferred to a specialist medical faciltiy in Jubilife City, where their condition has been described by doctors as stable."_

"So what was with that creature anyway?" Lucas wondered aloud. The five were back in the sports centre. It was beginning to seem like everything ended there, just as the journey had begun there for them as well.

"Dunno. But I get the feeling we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

The ball of darkness zipped around before materialising in the cavern beneath Mount Coronet.

_I have returned... To serve you, master._

_Good... I knew your loyalty would not falter. And yet I sense something else._

_I bring you life-energy._

At once, a beam of white light shot from the Absol-creature, into the darkness, which settled into a more discreet form, rather than a vague, formless cloud.

_Impressive. You have done well.

* * *

_

There was also another effect of the Rangers being dragged through the portal; one that they wouldn't discover until much later...


	6. Chapter 6: Black as Darkness, Part One

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Six – Black as Darkness, Part One.

Another storm, not unlike the one that came pouring down when the whole thing started. Someone new arrived in the city, making no attempt to find cover from the rain.

* * *

Jon and Lucas ran for the entrance, just to get out of the rain. They found the other three at a table, and sat down. Jon dropped the hood on raincoat he was wearing, and that was when they noticed for the first time.

"OK, what the heck did you decide to do with your hair?" James decided to go on the attack about the issue, however small it was in the grand scheme of things.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." For whatever reason, Jon now had a set of red highlights in his hair.

* * *

The stranger walked on through the streets, turning the collar on his black flight-jacket up to keep out some of the cold. At least, until a swarm of creatures rushed out of the shadows, and surrounded him.

* * *

"Whether it was a good idea or not, it still makes you look stupid."

Jon sighed, slipped off his jacket, and hung it over the back of the chair.

"Oh, come on! It's still not as insane as half the gym leaders."

* * *

The stranger held his own very well against the creatures, considering he was an ordinary human. However, they were able to slowly overwhelm him, and he vanished in a shaft of purple light.

* * *

The shaft deposited the newcomer in the cavern under the mountain. The whole ordeal seemed to have disoriented him quite severely.

"Where... Where am I?"

_Safe. For now._

"Who are you?"

_Your new master._

"What?"

A sphere of black light detached itself from the dark entity, before settling into a more familiar shape; a Purple PokéMorpher. At the same time, a black tentacle lanced out of it and straight into the newcomer's chest. A wave of dark energy radiated out, spreading across his entire body. When it dissipated, his skin had darkened slightly, and his eyes had turned a golden yellow...

* * *

Someone outside screamed. The rain had stopped, but in place of it was a crowd of Karicas, and a Dark Pokémon. This time, it was a Dusknoir.

"Some things never change. Everyone ready?"

Everyone grabbed their morphers.

"Power of light, Poké Rangers unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

* * *

However, as soon as they morphed, the Dusknoir exploded, taking the Karicas with it. Behind the fireball stood a lone figure, holding some sort of rifle. He was wearing a suit similar to the Rangers', but distinct in its own way. It was purple, with a helmet shaped like a Spiritomb, and the Pokéball and stripe around the arm were black instead of white.

"What the heck?"

The mysterious figure raised his rifle again, and fired, sending a burst of dark energy down the street, scattering the Rangers. He then flipped the barrel up, switching it from a rifle to a sword, and charged.

* * *

The fight quickly became one-sided, with the strange warrior carving his way through the five Rangers with little difficulty. However, Jon and Lucas at least managed to get their Sabres drawn, and made a decent attempt to fight back rather than simply being taken out before they could work out what was happening.

"What are you?" Jon shouted as he blocked another strike from the mystery man.

"_I am your end." _The voice was unnatural; like it was two people talking at once.

"Now where have we heard that one before?" Lucas wondered sarcastically. The stranger didn't see the funny side of it and aimed a slash at his gut, narrowly missing. Lucas countered with a strike to where he thought the assailant's face was. His helmet fluctuated briefly, and the two caught a fleeting glimpse of the person inside. Not enough to see who it was, but enough to take them off guard momentarily. The stranger took advantage of this and lashed out, knocking both boys away. Lucas propped himself up on one arm, and opened fire with his blaster. The bolts knocked the sword out of their attacker's hand, where it vanished.

"_Impressive; but foolish."

* * *

_

Even without his sword, this strange warrior was still a formidable fighter. He caught Jon's wrist as he tried to attack, and twisted the Blaster out of it, before countering with an open handed strike to his sternum that caused a cascade of sparks as his suit tried to compensate for the power overload. Jon tried to sweep out the stranger's legs, but failed when the stranger simply stamped onto his calf area. If his suit hadn't been there to protect him, it would have broken his leg bones. The stranger then followed up with a face punch, just as he noticed the other four getting back up.

"_It would seem you don't know when you're beaten. SPIRT SABRE!"_ He held out his hand, and the sword re-materialised. Everyone else drew their own weapons.

"_So be it."_

He charged again, trailing the Spirit Sabre, before sweeping it round and straight into James' shield, knocking him back. James tried to counter by shoulder-charging him with it, but simply bounced right off. Taki launched a Psyche-arrow at him, but it was absorbed harmlessly. He then aimed a slash at her, sending her flying a long way down the street. However, Sonja managed to use this to get behind him, and began driving her stingers in anywhere she could, bringing him to the ground. The team struggled to get back together; even with their suits some of them were still injured.

"OK. Set it up now, while we have the chance."

Forming the cannon was their last shot; everything else had failed. Jon set the dial into the green.

"Solarbeam!"

The beam of light smashed into the mysterious warrior, enveloping him in a fireball. Somehow, he survived it, but it was clear that he was severely weakened by the blast.

"_Imp... Impressive."_ He stammered through the pain that was obvious in his voice. _"but not enough. SPIRITOMB MEGAZORD! ENGAGE!"_

A rift appeared in the sky, almost identical to the one the Rangers had encountered in the Underground not so long ago. A roiling sphere of purple-black cloud. From it dropped a large mechanical rock, capped with another sphere of the same substance. A pair of rocky arms slid out of the sphere, and the base split apart into a pair of legs.

"Dang it. Poké Zords, Engage!"

At once, the five Poké Zords awoke from their various resting places and headed at speed for the city.

"Sinnoh Megazord, combination sequence engage!"

The Megazord went through the construction cycle, just as the Spiritomb Megazord finished powering up. It delivered a colossal blast that, even though it missed, managed to disrupt the formation for long enough for the two Megazords to become locked in melee combat, the Spiritomb using a pair of Dark energy blades to attack.

"_SHADOW CLAW!"_

The Spiritomb Megazord brought both its blades down in an X-cut, slashing straight through the Megazord and staggering it.

"Metal Claw!"

The Sinnoh Megazord responded, its sabre glowing silver as it slashed into the dark sphere.

"Seismic Toss!"

The Megazord grabbed its counterpart, and flung it up into the air, batting it away with the Megazord Sabre as it came back down. Rather than exploding elsewhere, it vanished back into the darkness. They might have noticed a small purple ball zip out of the Megazord just before it vanished, but they didn't know to look for it.

* * *

In the clearing, the team was discussing what had happened.

"So what was that then?"

_I do not know; it seemed to have an energy signature the exact inverse of your own._

"So that means..."

_It is a dark Ranger, yes_

"But how?"

_I believe it may be due to the time you spent in the Dark World; it may have allowed the Darkness to copy your powers and create a Ranger of its own. However it happened, it is very bad news indeed.

* * *

_

The Purple Ranger stumbled through the back-alleys, his suit crackling with dark energy as his morph began to fail, before finally giving out completely, his suit vanishing in a wave of purple light. The boy left behind stood up.

"Huh? How did I get here?"

He tightened the band holding his long blonde hair back, tugged his jacket back over his shoulders, and walked off, trying to work out where in the city he was...

* * *

Jon noticed someone behind him.

"Huh. I wondered when you'd make it here, Alex."

"Again with the attitude. I thought I'd knocked that out of you after I beat you the last time. It's not going to serve you very well."

Lucas walked up.

"Wait, you know this guy?"

"You could say that. Most people would probably call us rivals, friendly or not."

Lucas took a long look at the stranger. He was tall, with long blonde hair tied back behind his head. He was wearing a black flight jacket and grey trousers, and his eyes seemed to be a golden-yellow colour...

A/N: *Insert sting here!* So, here's my _Evil Ranger_ sub-arc. I don't know how long it's going to go on for, but here it is anyways. That bit about the attack sparks and power overloads is something I nicked from Linkara's History of Power Rangers series. You might want to check it out, if you haven't already.


	7. Chapter 7: Black as Darkness, Part Two

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Seven – Black as Darkness, Part Two.

The Spiritomb Megazord vanished into darkness again, reeling from another battle. But even in victory, the constant fights were beginning to take a toll on the Rangers and their hardware. The Spiritomb Zord seemed to repair faster than theirs, and came back stronger each time. At least, it seemed that way.

* * *

Down in the street below, the Rangers de-morphed, battered but not beaten. Yet.

"You know, we can only keep this up for so long. Eventually, we're gonna get pushed past the limit, and that'll be it."

Jon rotated his right shoulder. One of the bones made a painful grating noise, and he winced.

"Maybe. But the only alternative is just to lay down and take it; I'd rather go down fighting."

* * *

Back on the island, the mood was just as grim.

_It has been a difficult week so far. Everything I have seen raises more and more doubts about whether you can defeat this dark Ranger._

"I say we can, so long as we believe we can." Sonja had a sense of optimism that nothing could extinguish.

The trees flashed red again, alerting the group to another appearance of the dark Ranger. Lucas sighed.

"Maybe. But belief can only take us so far."

* * *

The teleporter deposited the five Rangers in the street ahead of the Purple Ranger. He didn't seem bothered by this, but they had no way to really tell.

"_Back for more. Interesting..."_

He summoned the Spirit Sabre.

"_If you honestly wish to be destroyed, I will be happy to oblige you."_

"The only one who's gonna be destroyed is you." Jon decided to try trash-talking their opponent. It probably wasn't going to work, but it made him feel better about the fact he was about to get his ass handed to him for the fifth time this week.

"_Very well."_

He then charged at them, same as every other time.

* * *

Jon blocked the first strike with the Fire Tail, the chain wrapping itself around the blade. The dark Ranger kicked out low, sweeping his legs out from underneath before moving on to the other four in turn.

_Same as every time before... I wonder if he's realised he's being predictable?_

He watched Sonja drive he stingers into the Purple Ranger's arm, and he responded by flinging her away.

_Unless he's not the one being predictable, we are..._

He drew his Blaster, and put a bolt into the back of the Ranger's shoulder, distracting him just as James rushed in with a full-bore charge using his shield. This attack flung the dark Ranger into the nearest wall with a sickening thud that made his morph fluctuate. He stood up jerkily.

"_Impressive. But not enough."_

The Ranger unleashed a dark shockwave that threw all five Rangers back a good ten feet and knocked them to the floor. He stood over Jon, stamping down on his arm as he tried to go for his blaster again.

"_So weak. So pathetic."_

A gold line began to form on his helmet.

"_I wonder if you can handle the truth..."_

The line grew and the helmet began to vanish along it, revealing first a solitary golden eye, and slowly the rest of his head.

"No..."

Jon kicked out, knocking the stranger back, and sending him sprawling, his face still on show for all to see.

"_This isn't over."_

The other four gathered round behind Jon.

"I'm counting on it."

The Purple Ranger teleported away.

"Who was that; you acted like you knew him."

Jon sighed. The pain in his arm where he'd been stamped was starting to build. His suit had obviously failed to absorb the full force of the blow.

"His name is Alex. Alex Hawke. An old rival of mine."

* * *

If anything, the mood on the island after this latest battle was worse than it had been before. Now their enemy had a face, and it wasn't a good thing.

"So what now? We could keep fighting, but every fight's just going to end the same way. Face it, it's hopeless."

"Not if I can snap him out of it."

"Come on. Like you could manage that."

"It worked with me."

_That was only a small amount of influence; Here the Darkness has totally subsumed Alex's mind. The only way to free him is to forcibly break the link to the Darkness._

"How?"

_From what I can see, the link is run through his Dark Morpher; damage that enough and the control should be broken._

Suddenly, something blotted out the sun overhead, and the whole clearing went dark. An apparition of the Purple Ranger appeared in the open space.

"_Red Ranger. If you truly wish to try to defeat me, come alone to the spot."_

It then vanished, and the sky cleared.

"The spot?" Lucas was confused.

Jon pressed a few buttons on a console.

"It's a place where Alex and I would meet and battle occasionally. Whatever happens, do not come after me." He hit one final control, and vanished in a shaft of red light.

* * *

The shaft deposited him inside the Ravaged path, unmorphed. To his left, the water lapped gently against the rocks.

_You'd better show. I'm here, like you wanted._

Sure enough, a black shaft appeared, and Alex stepped out, also unmorphed.

"So you decided to show up then. Fool."

Jon saw Alex going for his morpher.

"DARKNESS POWER, ACTIVATE!"

A black light exploded from his morpher, travelling down his arm and over the rest of his body, forming the suit, sans helmet, which subsequently formed over his head in the same way it had vanished. Jon grabbed his own morpher from his belt.

"Power of light, PokéRangers unite! Red Infernape Power!"

In a flash of red-streaked white light, he stood morphed across from his old rival.

"_Time to take this to the next level."_

Alex raised his hand, and the floor seemed to drop away, replaced with a dark portal, which swallowed the two of them.

* * *

The pair faced each other down inside the Dark Realm. This time, the area was different. It was almost like an arena, rather than the plain Jon had been to before. Alex shifted into a ready stance, then charged. Jon wasn't prepared for him to open with an unarmed attack, and was slow to adapt, taking a punch to the gut before he was able to fight back. He countered with an open handed strike to the side of Alex's helmet, following up with a low kick to try to sweep him to the floor. However, Alex grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him down too. Alex was the first to recover, and started delivering punch after punch as Jon tried to get back up.

"_You are so weak... So pathetic... Are you really the best they could find?" _He punctuated his speech by punching Jon in the face with each pause. However, on the third, Jon caught the punch, and started to crush Alex's fist.

"I... could say the same... about you..." The pain layered his voice, but he tried to ignore it. He stood up, the fist-crushing driving Alex to the floor in his place. His suit was sparking as it tried to cope, waves of black energy coursing over it as he dropped in and out of morph. And then, with one final strike, he sent Alex flying across the chamber, and his morph finally gave out. His suit fizzled out, and his Dark Morpher dropped to the floor. Seizing the chance, Jon drew his blaster and put a spread into it. It sparked a bit under the first few bolts, before finally exploding.

* * *

As soon as the Dark Morpher exploded, a stream of black energy erupted from Alex's heart, taking the form of his morphed counterpart.

"Oh, come on!" Jon simply shot the apparition, which, without the strength of someone wielding its power, exploded, shattering a gateway back to the Light Realm.

_Time to go._

Jon gabbed Alex's unconscious body and pulled him up into a fireman's carry, before running for the opening as the arena began to collapse from the shockwave.

* * *

Back in normality, Jon laid Alex down on the rocky ground.

_Come on... Please don't be dead. Not after all this._

He pulled off his helmet and checked for signs of life, just as Alex spluttered back in consciousness.

"Wha... what happened... How did I end up here?"

"What do you think?"

Alex shifted round to seen Jon crouched next to him.

"I dunno. Everything's a blur. Wait..." he stopped. "Why are you dressed like the Red Ranger?"

Jon laughed.

"Concentrate on what you can't remember clearly. It should sort itself out."

Alex closed his eyes and tried to focus. Fuzzy shapes in the darkness started to take on more recognisable forms as his memory began to piece itself back together. Everything that had happened whilst he was morphed began to flood back to him.

"You mean I was..."

"Yup."

"And you were..."

"Yeah."

"Sheesh."

"If it makes you feel any better, you weren't actually in control of yourself or what you did."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've been there. At least, not to the same level, but something like that. Come on, Let's get you out of here."

Jon slipped his helmet back on, before placing his hand on Alex's shoulder and engaging the teleporter.

* * *

The red shaft deposited them on the outskirts of Veilstone City. Jon stood up, tapping the side of his helmet to activate the communicator.

"Everything's done. He should be clear now."

"_Gotcha. Where are you?"_

"On the city outskirts."

"_Right. We're headed your way."_

"OK." He closed the connection. "Power Down."

His suit vanished in a red flash, just as four coloured lights passed overhead.

"Think you can walk now?" Jon held out his hand.

"I think so." Alex grabbed on and hauled himself up.

* * *

"So are you gonna say it then?" James was quizzical.

The six of them were sat in the sports centre. Or at least, five of them were. Alex had decided to stay away, as if trying to imply he didn't deserve human contact after what had happened. Dark control seemed to have that effect on people. That, and he didn't really feel they were his friends anyway.

"What?"

"'I told you so!'"

"Never."

"Well, you did call it." Taki perked up.

"I wasn't being serious when I said it!"

"You never are..."

A/N: Well, that's the end of that one. Although I could probably have stretched it out to a third part. Then it wouldn't seem so rushed.


	8. Chapter 8: Family

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Eight – Family

Yet another storm cascaded down from the heavens. A lone man walked through the deserted streets, before suddenly being surrounded by Karicas, which mobbed him and made him disappear in a sphere of purple light.

* * *

"That's the fifth disappearance this week. Can't we trace them?" Jon wondered aloud.

_I am afraid not. All the signs point to the victims being pulled into the dark world, but beyond that I cannot say for sure. My sight currently does not extend beyond the borders of this realm, not without something on the inside of the dimension in question._

Jon looked up from the console he was working at. The light had continued to marshal itself into a coherent form, and now it seemed like a Pokémon. What type, though, he couldn't tell.

* * *

The teleporter deposited Jon in a vacant cubicle in one of the sport centre's toilets. He pushed the door open, did a quick mirror check so he at least looked like he was meant to be there in case someone walked in, and then walked out to find everyone else.

"Any luck?" Lucas caught Jon's attention. He came over, pulled up a chair, and sat down.

"Nope. The dark void's still out of detection range. They could be anywhere inside it."

"I see." One big lie. In truth, it had gone right over his head.

"Whatever. Where's everyone else?"

"Taki's in the pool, and James decided to hit the gym again."

"What about Sonja?"

"Dunno. Haven't seen her all day."

"How'd you manage that? She's your sister."

"Yeah, doesn't mean I know everything she does with her life."

"OK, I get it. Don't bite my head off."

* * *

In fact, Sonja was a few streets away, minding her own business, unaware that she was being watched. The shape in the darkness was clearer now, but still indistinct.

_Yessss... The Yellow Ranger's energy should be perfect to restore me to my true power..._

The sound of a finger-snap echoed through the chamber.

* * *

Out in the street, Sonja was quickly surrounded by a swarm of Karicas. Her hand strayed towards her Morpher, but one of them leapt up and pinned it against the nearest wall, as the rest of them began to swarm in, and a purple sphere enveloped her...

Back in the sports centre, Lucas' morpher beeped. He tugged it from his waistband, and activated the communicator.

"What's up?"

"_We have a situation developing, and I cannot raise the others."_

"Understood. We'll be there as soon as we can." He closed the connection, and looked up at Jon. "Time to go."

* * *

The teleporter engaged, dropping Jon and Lucas in the clearing.

"What's happening?"

_There's been another disappearance. I managed to get a visual on this one; but I get the impression you will not like it._

"We don't have much choice; we need to work out where they're being taken. Play the tape."

The Light screen shimmered into view, and the video showed Sonja's kidnapping.

"Dammit." Lucas thumped the console in anger.

"Were you able to track her?"

_I am afraid not. Ideally, her Morpher would give me a reference point inside the dimension, but she is not conscious, limiting said capability._

"What if one of us went in there; would that allow you to see what's happening?"

_Perhaps. However, I cannot teleport you directly into or out of the dimension._

Jon pondered something for a second.

"What about the portal in the Underground? Is that still open?"

_I believe so._

"All right. Lucas, I'm gonna take a stab and say you want to do this?"

"What makes you say that?"

"She's your sister. Why else?"

"OK, I'll do it."

_Very well. Take this with you._

A small ball of light appeared, and settled into shape. It looked like a headset of some sort.

_This is a more powerful form of the communicator already integrated into your morpher, it should allow you to stay in contact with us from within the dimension. I regret that there is not time to fully upgrade the communicator you already have, but I did not anticipate this undertaking happening so soon._

Lucas hooked the communicator over his ear, and grabbed one of the wrist-torches off the rack, strapping it on.

"All right. Hit it."

Jon activated the teleporter, and he vanished in a shaft of blue light.

* * *

Lucas stepped from the shaft, into the tunnel not far from the explosion site.

"OK, I'm here."

"_Right. Get moving; we've no idea how much time she has."_ Jon was on the other end of the communicator, watching the tracking signal on the Light Screen.

Lucas came round the corner, to be faced with the roiling purple mass of the dark portal.

_Well, here goes nothing._

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped into the portal.

* * *

"I lost him."

_The tracker needs a few seconds to recalibrate. Patience._

"OK." Jon didn't like being out of the loop, not when he had a choice. The light screen eventually settled onto a new map, with a blue dot pulsing gently in the centre.

"_I'm in. Where do I need to go next?"_

"Standby, we're waiting for the tracker to find her signal."

* * *

Lucas' arrival did not go unnoticed.

_So, he has come to find her. Perfect. All the more power for me to take.

* * *

_

The tracker scanned for a few seconds, before a yellow blip began pulsing on it as well. It then began plotting a route between the two blips.

"Got her! Right. Head down the corridor, and take the first left."

"_OK. Moving out now. Can you make sure the path's clear? I don't want to risk walking into any unwelcome surprises."_

"Hold on." Jon tapped a few buttons experimentally. A line moved across the screen at intervals, adding a raft of purple dots. Jon guessed they were Karicas. "The path ahead is clear, but watch out, the tunnels are swarming with Karicas."

"_Got it."

* * *

_

Lucas moved through the dark tunnels, his only source of light being the torch on his wrist, and the only he clue he had about where to go was Jon's words in his left ear.

"_Hold up. I'm reading at least ten Karicas in the next chamber."_

"Is there a way around?"

"_I think so. Stand by... Got it. Doorway on your right."_

Lucas ducked through the opening.

"_OK. Move down here, then take a left as soon as possible"

* * *

_

"How much further?"

"_A few more meters, then you should be right outside."_

Lucas broke into a run, until he arrived at what looked like another portal.

"Is this it?"

"_Should be."_

Lucas put his hand against it. It felt just like the other portal. Summoning his courage, he stepped through, into a pitch-black room. Shining his torch around, he saw Sonja laying on the floor. He ran over and knelt down next to her.

"It's OK, I'm here now." She felt cold to the touch. Was he already too late? His fears were lifted slightly when she seemed to dissolve into an ink-blue slime as something else hit the ground, instead being replaced with dread, as it slid across the floor and reformed as a Karica a few feet away. Then the darkness in the chamber faded, and Lucas could see her Morpher laying there. And the Absol-creature was there as well. He reached down and pocketed the morpher, before turning to face his opponent.

_You really are predictable. It is a shame you are too late. Her fate will be the same as the others. The same as yours._

"Oh, I don't think so. You see, there's one thing that you should never put in a trap if you're smart. If you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never, ever, put in a trap."

_Oh really? And what would that be?_

"Me." Lucas grabbed his morpher from his waistband, and thrust it forward.

"Power of Light, PokéRangers Unite! Blue Empoleon Power!"

The flash in the low light of the chamber blinded the Absol briefly, and by the time he regained his vision, Lucas was stood there, with his Blaster Sabre and the Hydro-fin drawn.

"Let's finish this."

He charged, and began to deliver strike after strike into the creature with both swords.

* * *

"Lucas' helmet camera just activated." Jon hit the blue button on the console, and the screen shifted to show Lucas' point of view as he began to attack. They watched as he landed blow after blow, before the creature regained his senses and began to fight back.

* * *

The fight lead out into the passages, and then onto a walkway through a shaft. Lucas rolled his eyes.

_How clichéd. A fight to the death over a bottomless pit._

The two continued to exchange blows, before Lucas caught a lucky strike and knocked his opponent to the ground. He sheathed both weapons, before dropping down and holding the creature in place like he was about to drop him into the shaft.

"Enough games. Where are you holding her?"

_As if I would tell you._

Lucas shook him violently, and almost dropped him for real.

"WHERE. IS. SHE!"

_In the cells. Two levels down. Now, are you going to finish what you started?_

Lucas raised the Hydro-fin, and was about to stab it down into where the creature's heart should have been, before standing up, sheathing it again, and running off.

_I thought not. You lack the strength to do what is needed. Someday you will come to regret it.

* * *

_

The communicator perked up as soon as Lucas de-morphed. Obviously, the one in his helmet wasn't powerful enough to penetrate the darkness yet.

"_What happened?"  
_"It was a trap. Someone gave her morpher to a Karica."

"_OK. I think I can lock onto her life-force signature, find out where she actually is."_

"I already know where she is. Two levels down, in the holding cells."

_"How'd you find that out?"_

"Some things can be pretty lucid under threat of impending death."

"_You mean the Lieutenant you nearly dropped down the pit? Nice job, by the way."_

"Whatever. Was he telling the truth?"  
_"I think so. I'm reading her two floors below, along with five other human life-signs. They're all still strong; whatever it is they were planning to do, they haven't gotten round to it yet."

* * *

_

The holding cells were imposing enough to look at. Lucas tapped a few control buttons experimentally, causing the dark force field over one of the cells to drop. Sonja was inside, conveniently. Or it would be, had it actually been a random choice, since he was being told precisely which cell she was in.

"Hey. You OK?"

"I think so."

"You dropped this." Lucas dug her morpher out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Right. We need to get everyone out of here."

"Easier said than done. The portal I came in through's two levels up and there's a heck of a lot of Karicas between us and it."

"OK. I think there should be another portal at the end of the cell block. That's how they brought us in."

"_Whatever you do, make it quick. I'm reading at least fifty Karicas closing on your position. You've got about three minutes before they get there."_

"Right. Let's get them out of here." He thumbed his morpher, activating it. Sonja did the same. No need for theatrics when they were trying to avoid calling attention to themselves. "I'll cover the entrance, you get the cells open."

"Right." She examined the control panel. "I don't know how to work this." It was true that none of them knew how to work the dark technology. Lucas only managed it because he was told, and Jon was only relaying the info.

"Just stab it. It'll be a lot faster than trying to explain."

Sonja drew one of her stingers, and thrust it into the panel. It sparked, and all the cells opened.

"Heads up, here they come!" The sound of marching Karicas filled the room.

"OK, everyone out! Let's go, let's go!" Sonja lead everyone out of the cells and back into the portal chamber. "Come on, let's go!" She tapped on Lucas' shoulder.

"Right."

* * *

The portal sat inactive in the middle of the chamber, a ring of stone set into the floor of purple energy.

"So how do we activate it?"

The communicator buzzed into life weakly. The dark barrier was thinner here, so the signal could penetrate easier. But not completely; the signal was still layered with static.

"_You need... use the... console"_

"What?"

"_Hold... adjusting signal... Got it. You need to use the console in front of the ring."_

Lucas scanned the room. A small pedestal was sat between the door and the ring.

"Got it. There's a map of the region on it. What do I do with it?"

"_You need to tell the portal where it needs to go."_

"They're coming back. More of them this time, and they're going faster!"

"Whatever you're gonna do kid, do it fast!" One of the abductees called out. Lucas chose a point on the map at random and pressed it. The console seemed to be made of some sort of living membrane, like all the other controls, and it flexed slightly, glowing where he'd pushed it. At once, the ring started spinning, and then a wave of darkness was ejected from it, before settling back in to form the portal.

"All right, through the portal. Move!"

The first of the captives jumped through the portal, which admitted him with a brief sucking noise. Then another, then another. However, as the fourth jumped through, the Karicas broke into the chamber, to find both Rangers waiting for them. The fight could best be described as short, brutal, but ultimately effective.

"Get through the portal, I'll hold them off!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you, OK? Now get going!"

Sonja turned and ran through the portal. Lucas raised his blaster, and put bolt after bolt into the ceiling. It began to collapse, just as he made it into the portal and escaped.

* * *

The portal came out in the snowy region to the north, around Snowpoint City. Lucas was thrown clear, and then it shut.

"OK. I don't think they'll be coming through there for a while." He tapped his helmet. "We're all clear. I think we could do with being moved somewhere a little warmer though."

He heard a laugh on the other side.

"_OK, stand by."_

The crowd was swallowed by the teleporter, which deposited them back in Veilstone City. Lucas and Sonja were immediately teleported off again.

* * *

The teleporter dropped them in the clearing, where they promptly de-morphed.

"Nice work."

"Thanks."

* * *

The creature in the darkness was rightly incensed by this.

_**NO. **This is inconceivable. They must pay for this.

* * *

_

The trees flashed red.

_A giant Dark Pokémon. You need to engage it._

Taki and James teleported in, as if on a cue.

"OK. Let's do this."

"Power of light, PokéRangers Unite!"

* * *

They dropped out of the teleporter on a rooftop, watching the giant Gliscor attack the city.

"Here we go. PokéZords, engage!"

The five Zords awakened once more, and began to rush towards the city.

"Sinnoh Megazord, combination sequence engage!"

The five Zords formed up in the usual manner, and faced down their opponent, Sabre drawn.

"Psycho cut!"

The Sabre glowed pink as it was slashed through the giant Pokémon, staggering it.

"Seismic Toss!"

The Megazord grabbed its opponent, launching it into the sky, and batting it away as it came back down. It sailed off into the sky, and disappeared with a twinkle. No-one could tell where it landed, if it did at all.

* * *

"_Five people, who vanished in mysterious circumstances over the past week, have been found safe and well just outside Veilstone City. They do not seem to have suffered any harm as a result of their ordeal, but are being monitored at Jubilife City hospital. In other news, scientists have been unable to explain the recent strange weather phenomenon..."_

"Another day, more innocents to save." Lucas noted dryly.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." Jon's retort wasn't meant to sting, but it still seemed to.

"Do I? Dang."

"Whatever. Just nice to know we're actually making a difference..."

* * *

A/N: So there's a long one. And a bit rushed towards the end.


	9. Chapter 9: Contingency

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Nine – Contingency

For the first time in a while, it was quiet. No Dark Pokémon attacks, not even the odd group of Karicas to keep the Rangers on edge. Nothing.

"Maybe whatever it is that's causing all this finally gave up?"

Lucas sighed. It was a good thing that his sister was an optimist, but even that could get grating after a while. Thankfully no-one was crazy enough to give her sugar; she was strung enough already.

"Somehow, I doubt it's that simple."

* * *

"Leaving already?" Jon caught up with Alex on his way out of the city.

"Yeah. You might have other responsibilities, but I don't."

* * *

_Interesting..._

The voice boomed from the darkness, at no-one in particular.

_He tries to flee from me. He will fail._

The sound of a finger-snap echoed through the caverns.

* * *

On cue, a mob of Karicas sped out of the shadows and formed on the ground, their golden-yellow gemstone eyes glinting in the afternoon sun. Jon sighed.

"Go. I'll hold them off."

"Don't have to say it twice." Alex turned and was about to run when the Karicas boxed the pair in.

"Great. Looks like they want to make a fight out of it." Jon shifted his weight, lowering himself into a ready position, fists raised.

Then the Karicas charged, and Alex swung round, dropping one with a single punch to the face. Jon smashed one in the chest with his foot, and the pair went to work on the rest.

* * *

_Impressive. I see now why I chose him in the first place._

The sound resonated again.

* * *

More Karicas darted from the shadows, forming up into the shape of a Skorupi.

"Dang. We can't take this one. Now would probably be a good time to run, Alex!"

"Got it!" Alex turned and sprinted down the nearest alley, leaving Jon to face down the monster.

"You want a fight, you found one." He grabbed his Morpher from his belt.

"Power of Light, PokéRangers Unite! Red Infernape Power!"

When the light faded, he was stood, Fire Tail in hand, facing the dark Pokémon.

* * *

"_Rangers, we have a situation developing!"_

Lucas grabbed his morpher from his waistband and engaged the communicator.

"What's up?"

"_A dark Pokémon has materialised on the city's outskirts"_

"OK. We're on our way." He closed the connection. "Ready?" He looked at Sonja.

"Let's go!" She pulled out her own morpher, and the two teleported out.

* * *

The other four Rangers dropped out of the teleporter behind Jon as he tried to hold back the dark Pokémon with the Fire Tail.

"You look like you could use a hand!"

The monster struck out, and Jon slid back to avoid it, taking him into line with the others.

"What was your first clue?"

"All right. Let's do this!" Everyone else grabbed their morphers.

"Power of light, PokéRangers unite! Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

* * *

Alex ducked down another alleyway, trying to avoid the Karicas that were chasing him. He stopped, short of breath, and then noticed that they'd blocked off both ends.

"Great..."

At that point, he was swallowed by a shaft of black light...

* * *

When it released him, his first thought was that it was all happening exactly as before. But then he realised he was in a forest, not a cavern. The light wavered as it filtered through the canopy, but it was light none the less.

_Do not be afraid; they cannot find you here._

The voice was different from the other one; like a choir of angels rather than sounding like two rocks grating against each other. Alex walked forward, and found himself in the clearing that the Rangers used as a base. The light shone brightly in the centre.

"Where... Where am I?"

_For now, somewhere where evil cannot harm you. However, there is something I must ask of you._

"And what would that be?"

A sphere of light detached itself, and formed into a Morpher. This one was a different shape to the others, looking like a pair of folded wings under a Pokéball, and designed to be worn on the wrist.

_To take up the Power again; for good this time, not evil. I would not ask this of you unless there was no other choice, however I will also understand should you choose to decline._

Alex reached up and took the Morpher reverently, strapping it to his left arm.

"I'll do it. I still need to make amends for what I've done already."

* * *

The dark Pokémon launched a salvo of toxic spikes that slammed into the Rangers as they tried to attack, hurling them to the floor.

"We can't take much more of this!" James was starting to crack.

"We don't have a choice." Jon was grim.

All of a sudden, the teleporter deposited Alex on the street in a shaft of black light.

"Alex, what are you doing?"

"What I need to do." He raised his wrist, revealing his morpher.

"Power of Light, PokéRangers Unite! Black Staraptor Power!" He smacked the button on the Pokéball, causing the wings to snap open, and a wave of white light to envelop him, scattering what appeared to be black feathers everywhere. When it faded, he was wearing a black Ranger suit, with a helmet styled on a Staraptor, and a silver armoured vest over his torso, with the Pokéball symbol that adorned the other Rangers' suits finished in dark grey and black in the same place.

"Time to take it up a gear." He drew his blaster, which was trimmed in black in the same way as the others were trimmed in their own colour, and opened fire on the dark Pokémon. The bolts staggered the creature, allowing the others to get back up.

"Let's see how you like this!" He holstered his blaster, and produced another weapon. This one was a boomerang, with a wing-like design to it's arms. The Raptorang. Alex then tossed it at the dark Skorupi, smashing it in the face and sending it flying down the street.

"All right. Let's set it up!"

The six rangers assembled the Storm Cannon, with the Raptorang attaching to to the top of the Shell Shield, and making a pale blue segment appear on the dial. Jon selected this new option, with Alex stood next to him as the other four held up the cannon.

"Aeroblast!"

The ball of powered air lanced out of the cannon and slammed into the Skorupi, making it explode.

* * *

_Impossible. Not only does he now have light Ranger powers, but he was able to defeat one of my strongest dark Pokémon single handed. Something must be done...

* * *

_

At once, the Skorupi was healed by a mob of Karicas, and began to grow.

"Here we go again; PokéZords, engage!"

"Staraptor Zord, engage!"

The five regular Zords awoke from their various resting places, and the Black Staraptor Zord dived through the clouds, rolling into level flight and spreading its wings.

"Sinnoh Megazord, combination sequence engage!"

The five Zords went through the construction sequence, standing opposite the giant Pokémon.

"Ultrazord combination sequence, go!" Alex called.

The Staraptor Zord went into a steep dive as the Torterra Zord's shell split open, attaching where it had been before with it's wings still spread, it's tail forming armour over the upper part of the legs, and it's head forming a new helmet for the mecha.

"All right, let's do this!" Alex took control of the Ultrazord. "Metal Claw!"

The Ultrazord's sabre glowed silver as it slashed through the dark Pokémon.

"Sky Attack!" All six Rangers called in unison. The Ultrazord grabbed the Skorupi and threw it into the air, but rather than waiting for it to fall took off after it. It seemed to hover in place as the Ultrazord delivered slash after slash through it whilst flying past, before it finally swatted it straight down towards the ground, where it exploded in a spectacular fireball.

* * *

Not long after, all six of them were in the sports centre. Alex had decided to stay, what with his new commitments and all. Ironic, really, considering what he'd said earlier that afternoon.

"Well, that went well. I think." Alex didn't really know what to expect.

"I'd say so. I mean, we won this time. That's what counts."

"So, on to the future then." Alex noted. What he didn't know was that he was soon going to wind up facing the past...

* * *

A/N: It's really saying something when one of the technical filler chapters is longer than the plot chapters, isn't it?


	10. Chapter 10: Facing the Past

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Ten – Facing the Past

"Go! Growlithe!" Jon tossed the Pokéball into the street, where it bounced and opened, revealing the red-furred dog. The Galactic grunt was not impressed.

"Go! Houndour!"

Jon sighed. This was going to be tougher than he thought.

"Heh. Scared? How's about I take it up a notch! Go, Murkrow!"

Jon was about to grab another Pokéball from his belt when one came spinning out of the shadows.

"Go, Staravia!"

It was Alex.

"Need a hand?"

"No, but let's do this anyway."

"All right. Aerial Ace!"

"Fire Fang!"

Jon's Growlithe charged down the street straight at the Grunt's Houndour, before leaping onto it and clamping its jaws into its flank, carrying a fireball in its mouth. At the same time, Alex's Staravia zoomed straight at the Murkrow, engulfed in white streaks, before slamming it into the ground. The Grunt withdrew them both, and beat a very hasty retreat.

"They really don't stop trying, do they?" Alex noted dryly.

"Maybe..." Whatever Jon was about to go on about, he was interrupted by a small group of Karicas rising up out of the ground. "...These guys, on the other hand..." He punched one in the chest, knocking it to the floor, where it disappeared. They were getting weaker. Or maybe the humans were getting stronger, it was hard to tell.

* * *

Other than the Karicas showing up occasionally, it was quiet. Almost as if something was being built up to. But then it was always like this between battles. Alex was walking home by himself, when he heard a quiet humming from the shadows. But when he turned around, there was nothing there.

_You're getting jumpy. Relax._

Except, when he turned back, there was a Mismagius stood right in front of him, it's eyes glowing a sinister yellow.

_Hello Alex._

"How do you know my name?"  
_I know all about you. But do you know yourself? Hmm?_

Then the humming returned, and Alex felt his body getting heavier, and he seemed to fall through the floor into a black void.

_What's.. What's happening to me? Falling... Falling into darkness?_

_

* * *

Strange... What could be causing that?_

The light was troubled by what it was seeing.

_Rangers, we have a problem._

Everyone teleported in, except one.

"Where's Alex?" James noticed what was amiss.

_He is the problem._

"How?"

_His life-force reading just peaked and crashed; I am unsure as to why. We need to find him._

"Do you have a location?" Lucas asked.

_I have a very basic idea; Unfortunately the weak reading prevents me from being more precise._

"Whatever. Just get us out there; we can do the leg-work ourselves." Jon made a decision.

_All right. Find him, bring him back here._

* * *

The street was empty when the group teleported in.

"OK. Spread out, see if you can find him."

* * *

Alex woke to find himself somewhere familiar. He seemed to be surrounded by clouds of purple gas, and laying on a floor of violet energy.

_So, I'm back in the Dark Realm?_

He stood up, and heard a sound behind him, like someone walking on a sheet of glass. He turned to see a very familiar figure.

_Oh, no._

It looked like himself morphed as the Purple Ranger, albeit without the helmet, but with a few key differences. The black-and-white hair and yellow eyes being the obvious one. Alex slid into a ready-stance as the figure approached.

"_Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic."_

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"_Because there's no way that you can defeat me. It's that simple."_

"That's what you think." Alex raised his left wrist. "Power of light, PokéRangers unite! Black Staraptor Power!"

And, with the familiar flash of light and sound of rushing wings, Alex morphed, facing down his opponent, who simply sighed.

"_How predictable..."_

* * *

"Hey! I think I've found him!" Taki knelt down next to Alex's fallen body. He was pale, and bathed in sweat, almost like he was suffering from a high fever.

"This doesn't look good." Jon pulled his morpher from his belt, activating the communicator. "We've found him, but he looks like he's fading, and fast."

"_I see. However, I cannot achieve a stable lock on him."_

"Understood." Jon placed his hand on Alex's shoulder, and activated his teleporter.

* * *

In the clearing, Alex's body materialised on a bed of branches.

_Strange. It is almost as if he is dreaming. Somehow._

"But what could do this?" Sonja was confused.

_If I knew, it would not be strange._

"Oh, right."

_There is, however, an underlying dark magic signature._

"Wait, this is being caused by a dark Pokémon?" James asked.

_That would be the logical assumption. The signature is weak, however. I may not be able to trace it with any reasonable degree of accuracy._

"What's the rough location?"

The Light Screen shimmered into view, showing a map of the region that shrank progressively, until it stopped on a section of the city.

_Here. You'll have to find the source's exact position yourselves._

"Right." Jon was back in command. "Let's get back out there."

* * *

Back in the Dark Realm, Alex locked blades with his double.

"_You've become so weak after you forsook the true power of darkness!"_

_Great. Was I really this much of a ham?_

Alex drove the Spirit Sword into the floor with his Blaster Sabre, before his double kicked him in the face and sent him flying back.

"_I can read your every move."_

"Oh yeah? But were you expecting this?"

Alex drew the Raptorang, and threw it at his double, who simply dodged it.

"_Obviously."_

* * *

The street where the teleporter dropped the group was quiet. Just like where they'd found Alex. There was a ghostly humming disturbing the still evening air. At the source of this sound was the Mismagius, flanked by a line of Karicas.

_I suppose it was inevitable that you would find me. It is of no consequence though; you cannot help your friend now._

"We'll see about that." Jon grabbed his morpher from his belt. "Ready?"  
"Ready!" Everyone called back.

"Power of light, PokéRangers unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

_Impressive. Karicas, attack._

The black Sableye charged forward in a normal rush tactic. The Rangers all drew weapons, and shifted into a defensive position. It was a one-sided battle, with the Karicas being dispatched with relative ease.

_Fascinating. But sadly, your powers are no match for me._

"Wanna bet on that?" Jon tired to trash talk the Mismagius. It didn't seem to react.

_Why don't you find out?_

"Maybe. Let's set it up!"

The five Rangers quickly assembled the Storm Cannon, with the dial set to the green segment.

"Solarbeam!"

The light beam lanced out of the cannon, striking the Mismagius and causing a massive fireball. The Pokémon was left battered, but not beaten entirely.

_This... This is far from the end... Relish this victory, for it shall not last long..._

It then proceeded to vanish in a flash of black light.

* * *

Alex charged the Dark Ranger again, and locked blades to try to hold him in place.

"But that's the thing about boomerangs. They come back."

On cue, the Raptorang spun back out of the shadows and smashed into the back of the Dark Ranger's head. Alex caught it as it spun out of control. He sheathed it, and drew his blaster. The Dark Ranger struggled to stand up, and Alex put a bolt into the ground by his feet.

"It's true I'm probably a lot weaker on my own now. But I'm still stronger than you. Stronger than my past."

"_But... But how? How can you be stronger and weaker at the same time?"_

Alex demorphed.

"Because my strength doesn't just come from this." He indicated the morpher on his wrist. "It comes from my friends as well. Something you'll never understand. That's why I'm stronger than you."

The Dark Ranger charged at him, but he simply sidestepped and smacked him in the back of the knee as he passed.

"In fact, I'd say you aren't real; you're a false construct. Something my own mind came up with."

The walls of the dark realm fluctuated as Alex said that. He picked up the fallen Spirit Sabre from the ground, flipping it into rifle mode.

"So maybe, all I need to do..." he levelled the rifle at the Dark Ranger as he limbered up to charge again, "...is destroy you, and I can get out of here."

He fired, the rifle releasing a bright blue beam instead of a dark-purple pulse. The beam struck the Dark Ranger, and spread across him, making him crack and dissolve, before taking the rest of the realm with it.

* * *

Alex woke to find himself in the clearing, surrounded by everyone else.

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

"Wait, I was dead?"

"Nope. Just screwin' with ya!" Jon noted with a laugh.

"Come on, that's not funny."

"So what actually happened?" Lucas asked.

"Well..." Alex launched into the story.

* * *

"So there's a Mismagius out there now with the power to affect humans on a major level like this?"

_So it would seem. This is deeply disturbing news._

"Maybe. But I doubt we've seen the last of it." Jon was troubled by the thought.


	11. Chapter 11: Flip Side

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Eleven– Flip Side

The rangers faced down their latest foe. Or they would have, had the enemy not been familiar. It was the same Mismagius that they'd fought against before.

_Impressive as always. But there is one question. What lies on the other side of history; what if history changed?_

Then the street filled with an ethereal humming. Alex recognised it as the same humming he'd heard just before meeting the Mismagius before. And then he watched the other five rangers slowly pass out and hit the floor.

_We shall see... We shall see..._

* * *

The field was quiet. This was strange in and of itself; nowhere in the region was this quiet. And yet, this was where the Rangers found themselves. Lucas was the first to come round, and immediately noticed the acrid smell of smoke on the air, along with the fact that whatever happened had de-morphed him.

"What... What happened?"

James sat up.

"I don't know." He looked round, and noticed the smoking ruins of a city on the horizon. "But I think it's bad."

"Wait, where's Alex?" Taki spoke up.

"No idea." Lucas noted.

* * *

The group picked their way through the outlying ruins. The smell of smoke was heavier here. It was obvious a major battle had taken place.

"So where in Arceus' name are we?" Jon wondered.

As if on cue, a legion of Karicas formed from the ground.

"Not so far we can't get away from these guys." Lucas quipped.

"All right. Let's do this." Jon pulled his morpher from his belt. "Ready?"  
"Ready!"

"Power of light, PokéRangers unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

Usually, the Karicas would recoil at least slightly before charging after seeing the Rangers morph. But this time they didn't seem to care. And with good reason, it turned out.

* * *

Alex glared at the Mismagius, in as much as it was possible too in a full-face helmet. It seemed to realise what he was doing though.

"What did you do to them?"

_Nothing severe. Although what happens next is up to them._

"What does that mean?"

_It means that what they do determines whether or not they survive..._

And with that, the Mismagius vanished. Alex tapped his helmet, kicking in his communicator.

"I've got a problem down here."

"_As I can see. I thought that being morphed would prevent the Mismagius' power from having an effect on you; clearly I was mistaken."_

"But why didn't it affect me as well?"

"_That I cannot explain. Either way, we need to get them to safety."_

"Right." Alex activated the teleporters manually, making each ranger disappear in a shaft of light.

* * *

In the ruins, the reason why the Karicas didn't seem troubled by them became clear when a single figure somersaulted off the roof of one of the intact buildings.

"That's..." Jon started. Everyone else was shocked at this new arrival.

The Dark Ranger.

"_This is impossible."_

"How?"  
_"I destroyed you. All of you."_

"And yet here we are. I guess you didn't do as thorough job as you thought you did."

"_That is incorrect. But it is also of no consequence."_

He drew the Spirit Sabre in sword-mode.

"_Because I can simply do it again."_

"Don't be so sure." Lucas was defiant. The Dark Ranger simply laughed at him.

"_You said the same thing before."_

All five Rangers drew weapons.

* * *

The daylight in the clearing was beginning to fade. Night was coming fast.

_This is deeply disturbing. Whatever created this dark Pokémon managed to give it the ability to circumvent the protective nature of your powers. However, as for why it left you behind, I still cannot say._

"Maybe I'm immune after last time, or something like that?"

_Perhaps, although I cannot say for sure._

Then something flashed red in the trees.

_A dark signal; and a strong one at that._

Alex grabbed his helmet.

"All right. I'll try to hold it down, at least until they revive."

And then he teleported out.

* * *

In the ruined city, the five Rangers charged. The Dark Ranger simply sighed and tried to take Jon's head off as he passed, but missed when he dodged, taking a strike from the Fire Tail to the back, followed by a pair of sharp pains a bit lower down his back as Sonja drove her stingers in. His next strike was a bit more successful, sending Lucas flying down the street and through a wall. However, in doing so, he left himself open, and Taki put a bolt into his chest. However, just like last time, it dissipated harmlessly. The Dark Ranger switched his sabre into rifle mode, and returned fire. The blast propelled her a good thirty feet down the road, or what was left of it. However, no sooner had he done this, James charged straight into his back, with the Shell Shield positioned to force the brunt of the force onto the central spike. It launched him away, and sent him rolling as soon as he landed.

"All right, Let's set it up!"

They assembled the Storm cannon, with the dial set into the green.

"Solarbeam!"

The beam of light lanced into the Dark Ranger, and exploded, yet he was left standing as it subsided.

"_Impressive. I haven't taken a blow like that in some time. However, it isn't enough! Karicas!"_

The creatures swarmed from the shadows, and pinned all five Rangers down.

"_Take them to be processed with the others. They shall serve us well."_

* * *

The cell was deep within the dark realm. And yet, this is where all five rangers were when they came round. Sonja sat up.

"Well, this is familiar." With good reason; it was almost exactly the same as the cell she'd been imprisoned in before. A quick check revealed that they still had their morphers, for all the good they would do them now.

"So what's the deal then?" Lucas was confused.

"The Mismagius said something about history being changed, or what lay on the other side. What if this is what would have happened had we lost to the Dark Ranger?" James tried to make sense of it.

"Yeah, but how? Mismagius can't alter the time-line." Taki didn't understand.

"No, but it can make us think it did. All of this could just be an illusion." Jon came to a fairly reasoned conclusion given the circumstances.

"So all we have to do is overcome the illusion, and we can escape?"

"Pretty much. That's what happened to Alex, anyway."

* * *

The sound of a pair of Karicas marching drifted past, and they heard a cell down the hall open. Then the pair passed again, followed by what sounded like at least eight humans. Not long afterwards, the sound of screaming filtered down from above, along with a strange whooshing noise. This happened at least two more times over a long period, before their own cell was opened.

_Follow._

"That's strange. These things never talked before." James noted.

However, one of the pair fired a shadow bolt into the back wall of the cell.

"All right, we're coming."

* * *

Alex teleported in to find the Mismagius, flanked by a line of Karicas.

_So. You came to try to free them. Impressive. But what was it you said? That your strength comes from your friends? Well, I have taken them out of the equation. Let us see how well you do without them._

Alex drew his blaster, flipping it into Sabre mode.

"Yes. Let's."

The Karicas charged at him, and he lashed out, catching three in a single strike.

_Impressive. I can see why my master chose you._

"Surprised?"  
_Not really._

"Thought not." Alex fired off a bolt at the last Karica, making it explode in a puff of ink-blue smoke.

* * *

The eight humans were led into a chamber within the dark realm. There was an operating table of sorts in the centre, with a strange device above it. The Dark Ranger was waiting for them.

"_Behold, your final fate. Who shall be the first to embrace their darkness, I wonder?"_ He walked along the line, and stopped in front of someone none of the Rangers recognised.

"_Him."_

The Karicas detached him from the line, and led him to the table. Shadowy restraints pinned him too it, and it tilted back until it was horizontal beneath the device.

"_Activate it."_

On cue, the device began to glow with a high pitched whine. When it reached a level that was painful to the human ear, a purple beam lanced out of the device and into the man's chest, and he screamed, before beginning to convulse, waves of darkness spreading out from the point of impact over his body as it began to change shape.

"_Hmm... This one has a lot of darkness within him."_

Eventually, the beam stopped, and the darkness subsided to reveal what looked like a Karica, only this one was red rather than dark blue, and carried a strange marking where the gem on it's chest should be.

"_See what happens when you embrace the true power, the darkness within?"_

He looked along the line again, stopping in front of Sonja.

"_Her."_

The Karicas began to lead her to the table. She struggled; illusion or not, she was still scared.

However, as she was led towards the device, Lucas snapped.

"No!"

He spun round, and punched the Karica behind him to the ground. The other three followed suit, freeing themselves. However, the Dark Ranger took matters into his own hands, and forced Sonja onto the table.

"Dammit!" Lucas grabbed his Morpher, as did everyone else.

"Power of Light, PokéRangers unite! Blue Empoleon power!

"Red Infernape Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

* * *

As soon as the lightshow subsided, Lucas drew his blaster and poured bolt after bolt into the device; The last thing he wanted to see was his sister becoming one of those... things. It sparked a bit, then finally exploded just before it could activate fully. The restraints vanished, and Sonja rolled off the table, grabbing her morpher as she hit the floor.

"Power of Light, PokéRangers unite! Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

The five Rangers faced down the Dark Ranger again.

"It ends here!" Lucas shouted.

"_For you maybe."_

All five Rangers drew their blasters.

"Or is it for you?" Lucas gave one final quip, before the whole group fired as one, their bolts crossing into one large white beam that struck the Dark Ranger square in the chest, splintering him, and whiting out everything.

* * *

The bright light faded to reveal the clearing once more.

"So it was just an illusion?" Jon sat up.

_Correct._

The trees flashed red.

_It would appear that Alex needs your help._

"OK gang. Let's get back out there!"

* * *

Alex was stood facing the Mismagius when the others teleported in, fully morphed.

"'Bout time you showed up. How'd it go?"

"Badly. Are we gonna finish this, or what?"

"Good plan. Set it up."

The six rangers hurriedly assembled the Storm Cannon, this time with the Raptorang on top.

"Aeroblast!"

The ball of air smashed into the Mismagius, and made it erupt in flames.

_Impressive. But that is not the limit of my power!_

It then began to suck in Karicas from the shadows, and grew.

Alex sighed.

"Here we go again."

"Poké Zords, engage!"

* * *

On cue, the six Poké Zords launched from their respective sleeping spots, and made tracks for Veilstone City.

"Sinnoh Ultrazord, combination sequence initiate!"

The six Zords went through the sequence, leaving the mecha stood across from the giant Pokémon.

_So, you have more power than I anticipated._

"Wait, you weren't told any of this?" Alex was confused.

_My master did not deem it pertinent._

"Whatever. Metal Claw!"

The Ultrazord drew its sword, and lashed out at the Mismagius. It staggered back, but made no attempt to respond.

"Sky Attack!"

The Ultrazord grabbed hold of the Mismagius, which made no attempt to resist, and tossed it into the air, taking off after it, and zooming through with slash after slash before finally batting it away and causing it to explode in mid-air.

* * *

Later that night, Lucas came downstairs to find Sonja curled up on the sofa.

"Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head.

"Still thinking about what happened?"

She nodded. It was obvious she was on the verge of crying about it.

"It's all right. It wasn't real, remember?"  
"It seemed real. What if it had been?"

"I dunno Sis. I really don't know."


	12. Chapter 12: Revelations

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Twelve– Revelations

The darkness continued to flow into the chamber, until it finally settled into a single form.

_Finally, I have broken the last seal. And yet there is still much I cannot do. Not until I defeat those infernal PokéRangers. No matter. It shall be done soon enough.

* * *

_

The Karica vanished in a puff of smoke as it was struck. Lucas holstered his blaster, and powered down. It seemed like they would pop up occasionally, just to keep them on edge. They hadn't seen a real dark Pokémon since the Mismagius.

"Maybe they'll give up. Eventually." Alex might not usually be the optimistic one, but things did seem to be on the up 'n' up again.

"Maybe. But it's always quiet just before something goes horribly wrong.

* * *

The Pokémon under the mountain was watching them intently.

_Correct. It is all about to go wrong for you. Just as it did before.

* * *

_

The tress flashed a more urgent red than usual. Something was definitely wrong.

_Oh no. This is not good at all. Rangers, we have a very serious problem on our hands._

All six rangers teleported in on cue.

"What's up?" Alex asked.

_It would seem that the final seal on the darkness has been broken._

"What does that mean for us?"

_I cannot say. The worst case scenario is that the dark force behind everything that has happened since this began is free and at full strength._

"And if we're lucky?"

_Then it is not that severe yet. However, I cannot be sure either way just yet._

The light screen shimmered into view, showing a dark Pokémon and a crowd of Karicas surrounding it. It was a Tropius, albeit in two shades of the same ink-blue, and with the characteristic golden eyes.

"Looks like we've still got work to do in the meantime." Jon noted.

* * *

The teleporter dropped the six of them onto the street ahead of the Tropius.

"Oohhh... I wondered when you lot were gonna show up."

"Stow it." Alex retorted. "You're going down, same as all the others that tried."

Jon grabbed his morpher.

"Everyone ready?"

The others readied their own morphers.

"Power of light, Poké Rangers unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

"Black Staraptor Power!"

* * *

The Karicas recoiled slightly, then charged.

"Here we go again." Lucas was being sarcastic, before drawing his sabre and going to work alongside the others. The fight was over as quickly as it had begun. Clearly the Karicas _were_ getting weaker; this fight would have been more of a challenge before.

"Huh. You're tougher than I thought you'd be."

At once, it scattered a cloud of shimmering leaves across the surface of the street, before hurling them telekinetically at the Rangers. They impacted in a shower of sparks, driving all six Rangers to the ground. Alex struggled to raise his blaster, and managed to get a shot off, striking the dark Pokémon in the shoulder. He then hurled the Raptorang at it, catching it in the leg.

"Ow! Stop it!"

"Ready for more?" Jon launched himself into a spin, trailing the Fire Tail. "Here it comes!"

The chain impacted with a fireball, throwing the Pokémon down the street. As it landed, Sonja leapt out and drove both her stingers into the Pokémon's flank, sending a wave of electricity across it's body. It didn't seem to have much of an effect.

"Now, that tickles."

It was cut off by a psyche-arrow lancing into it, knocking it to the floor.

"Nice shot. Let's set it up!" Alex called. The six Rangers assembled the Storm Cannon, and Jon set the dial into the red.

"Fire Blast! Go!"

The fireball impacted and exploded quite spectacularly.

* * *

_Impressive. Still, They have not seen what power I command now...

* * *

_

More Karicas swarmed out of the shadows, making the Tropius grow.

"Dang. Poké Zords, engage!"

"Staraptor Zord, engage!"

All six Zords awoke, and assembled in the city.

"Sinnoh Megazord, combination sequence engage!"

The five regular Zords began to form up into the Megazord, as the Tropius readied another Magical Leaf barrage. It launched the foliage at the Megazord just as it stood up, and would have hit it had a black blur not passed in front, taking the attack.

"Nice move Alex!" Lucas called.

"Thanks. My Zord's taken a beating, but it's still good. Sinnoh Ultrazord, combination sequence go!"

The Staraptor Zord split apart, and armoured up the Megazord.

"Now, it's our turn! Psycho Cut!" Alex called the attack. The Ultrazord drew its sabre, which began to glow pink, before running the Tropius through several times, each one releasing a shower of sparks.

"Metal Claw!"

The blade turned silver as it struck again. This time the Tropius tried to block it with its neck, but failed.

"Sky Attack!" All six Rangers called in unison, and the Ultrazord launched the Tropius into the sky, taking off after it. After making seven passing slashes, it batted the dark Pokémon away towards the sea, where it hit the water and exploded.

* * *

However, at once the sky turned dark, and a portal began to open. Out of it drifted a single Pokémon. It almost didn't seem to be there, but the very fact it was struck fear and dread into the hearts of all who could.

Darkrai.

_Impressive. But know this: while my full power lays dormant, you will not succeed in sealing me again; not this time._

And then it disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived.

* * *

The six Rangers puzzled over this in the clearing.

"But what did it mean, "this time"?"

_I am afraid I have not been totally honest with you; there are some things I have not told you yet._

"Such as?" Alex was quizzical.

_You are not the first group of warriors to fight this Darkrai. Many centuries ago, another six warriors fought it to a standstill and managed to seal it. However, the very fact that the seal has failed means it has become much, much stronger since then._

One final wave of light was drawn into the clearing, and the shape settled into its own form.

_However, my power has finally returned as well._

It was a Cresselia.

_Thankfully, while it has failed, the seal has not been completely broken; Darkrai is not at its full strength. I have every confidence that you can defeat Darkrai once again, even if it has gained strength. For as long as there is light in the hearts of human and Pokémon alike, you shall always be stronger than the darkness. You are the Light Force PokéRangers.

* * *

_

The six Rangers were sat round a table at the sports centre, wondering what would happen next.

"Well, at least we know what we're up against now." James noted simply.

"But the question is, can we defeat it?" Lucas, ever the reasonable one, interjected.

"Of course we can! You heard what it said, as long as there is light in people's hearts, we can win." He'd forgotten how optimistic his sister could be.

"True enough. Well, here's hoping."


	13. Chapter 13: Digital Danger

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Thirteen– Digital Danger

"Well, we knew it was going to come eventually. At least now we know what "it" is." James noted dryly.

"True. But the question is, how long do we have?"

"You tell me. We don't know how much of the power is still sealed. I just hope it's a lot, or else things could go south a lot sooner than we'd like."

* * *

Meanwhile, something sparked in the storage system servers as a whisp of black fog slipped inside...

* * *

James and Lucas were playing pool in the sports centre. Outside, winter was beginning to move in; and as a result Lucas was wearing a blue sweatshirt over his T-Shirt.

"I suppose that leads to the other question. When things do go south, how badly is that gonna happen?"

"Good question. And one I don't think any of us are gonna be able to answer until it happens."

* * *

"We've got a problem over here!" One of the technicians shouted. His supervisor came running over.

"What's happening?"

"Something is seriously screwing with the storage network."

"Any ideas what?"

"No, but this definitely isn't a glitch in the programming. Maybe a computer virus."

* * *

The technicians weren't the only ones monitoring the situation. Cresselia watched the energy trace begin to spread throughout the network.

_This is deeply disturbing. Rangers, we have a problem._

Slowly, the six rangers gathered in the clearing on Half-Moon Island as soon as they could extricate themselves from whatever they had been doing before.

"What's up?" Alex asked.

_A Dark trace has entered the storage network. I do not know what it's intent is, but it must be destroyed before it can do any damage._

"Uh, Question? How are we meant to do that?" Taki spoke up.

_Hold out your Morphers._

They did so, and each one began to glow slightly.

_This should allow you to enter the storage network to combat the enemy by utilising a computer connected to it._

"OK, let's get out there." Lucas called.

_Jon. Wait for a minute._

Everyone else teleported out.

"What's up?"

_There is something else I want to give you. Something that may be important later._

A ball of light shimmered into existence, taking the form of a crystal, which flew into his morpher.

_Go now. You will know what to do with that when the time comes._

"Got it. Thanks."

He then teleported out in a shaft of red light to join the others.

* * *

"Right. So we need to find a computer that's linked to the storage system. Where do we do that?" Sonja wondered aloud.

"Pokémon centre. This way." Alex led the group off.

* * *

Once inside, the group found their way to the computer bank. Thankfully, the centre wasn't too busy, so no-one was likely to notice what they were doing.

"OK, here goes nothing." Lucas held his morpher up to the screen, and was drawn into it with a flash of light.

"Well, that looked painless enough. Everyone else ready?" Jon held up his morpher, as did the rest of them. At once, the same flash of light engulfed them, and when it faded, they had vanished as well.

* * *

The world they found themselves in was strange. Everything seemed to be outlined in various neon colours, with vague circuit-like patterns on every surface. The group's appearances had changed as well; everyone had a more "technological" look to them, and they all seemed to be covered in glowing lines in their respective colour.

"This is... weird." Alex noted.

"Tell me about it." Lucas snarked. He was fast beginning to hate random obvious statements.

* * *

However, strange as it was, at least it was quiet. For the moment.

"So, somewhere round here's a Dark Pokémon or something screwing with the system?" Jon wondered aloud. As if on cue, a squad of Karicas at least twenty strong popped out of the floor.

_Me and my big mouth._

He grabbed his morpher from where his belt would normally be. It too was covered in glowing lines.

"Everyone ready?"

"Let's do this." Lucas responded verbally. Everyone else just nodded and prepped their own morphers.

"Power of Light, PokéRangers Unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

"Black Staraptor Power!"

* * *

As soon as they morphed, the number of Karicas swelled from twenty to almost a hundred.

"Oh, _brilliant._" Taki moaned, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She drew her blaster and shot one as it tried to jump-attack her.

* * *

As the Rangers worked their way through the mass of Karicas, something was watching from a distance.

Alex tossed the Raptorang, which sliced through a good twelve Karicas on it's loop. The ranks were beginning to thin out a bit. Bit being the operative word; they seemed to be respawning at the edge of the melee occasionally.

"This isn't working. We need a new plan."

"We had a plan?" James shouted back.

All of a sudden, the remaining Karicas vanished, splitting into polygons like a model in a computer.

_Impressive._

"Oh, here we go again." Lucas sighed.

A black-robed shape drifted down from above.

_You are all just as powerful as they said you would be._

"Can the melodrama. What are you?" Alex went for the direct approach.

_That was the other thing they said about you; that you all lack patience. No __matter._

The strange figure levitated up, and began to spin, causing the robe to disappear. In its place was a dark blue Porygon Z.

"So you're what's causing all this trouble?" Jon shouted up at it.

_Indeed._

At this point, all six Rangers readied their weapons.

_Is that how you want to play this? Very well._

In a flash the Porygon began to spin and launched itself at the Rangers, sending them all flying in a cascade of sparks. Whatever attempts they made to attack didn't seem to do anything.

* * *

Alex brought his sabre up to try to block the Porygon, but it just flung him aside again.

"This isn't working. Suggestions?"

"Aside from blasting it right now?" James pitched in.

"Looks like that's our only choice. Let's set it up!" Jon called, and the Rangers proceeded to assemble the Storm cannon, setting it to the pale blue segment.

"Aeroblast!" They called in unison as it fired, generating a large explosion.

* * *

"The system's starting to go haywire!" The technician was getting seriously concerned.

* * *

However, as the fireball dissipated, the Porygon was still floating there.

_Impressive, but futile._

Then Jon remembered what had happened earlier.

_Something that may be important later... You will know what to do when the time comes..._

"You thought that was impressive? Wait until you see this!"

He held out his hand, making the crystal he had been given before materialise in his palm.

"Crystal Armour, Energise!"

He then tossed the crystal into the air, drew his blaster, and shot it, apparently shattering it with a wave of energy. However, as soon as the wave hit him it began to form a suit of crystalline armour over parts of his suit, particularly the gauntlets, boots and chest, along with a pair of crystal swords on his back. He drew both blades, and faced down the Porygon.

_Very impressive. But is that really going to be enough?_

"Looks like we're about to find out."

He then charged at the enemy, running at a faster speed than normal, before delivering a scissor-slash with both blades that knocked it back a good thirty feet and left it heavily weakened. It also sent a shockwave running through the system.

* * *

"Whatever's in there's driving it towards critical barrier. One minute to system failure!"

To be fair, none of them knew what a total system failure would do. But they guessed it would be bad.

* * *

Jon stood facing the weakened Porygon-Z, blades ready.

_So... You really are that powerful... For now._

"Maybe."

The blades began to glow.

"Ice Beam!"

He slammed the two blades together, unleashing the energy they had stored into a single beam of white light that utterly vaporised the Porygon.

* * *

"Woah... Something just spiked the power levels." The tech hit a few keys. "System readings nominal; whatever was in there's gone now. Looks like we managed to stop the crash."

* * *

The Pokémon centre was almost empty when the team beamed out of the computer. Outside, it was dark.

"Wow. How long were we in there?" Lucas asked.

Jon looked at his Pokétch.

"About three hours."

"Seemed like less. Anyway, what was all that?"

"Just something I was given, that's all."

* * *

A/N: Well, here it is. It's been a while, hasn't it? :P


	14. Chapter 14: Ice to see you

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Fourteen– Ice to see you.

Winter hit Veilstone with a vengeance. A cold wind swept in from Snowpoint City, carrying the snow with it. It covered every street and every rooftop with a thick white blanket.

* * *

Jon dodged a snowball as it sailed towards his head.

_That was quick; the snow's only been on the ground a few hours._

He dropped to one knee, and scooped up a ball, lobbing it haphazardly at the kid who'd thrown the first one at him. It missed, impacting on the wall behind him. Not that he'd ever really been a good thrower.

* * *

Deep within Mount Coronet, Darkrai was watching. And it was amused, bizarrely.

_Hmmm... I do believe I can make this work to my advantage...

* * *

_

What popped out of the shadows somewhere in the city was a Snover. Or at least, what looked like one. Its eyes were yellow and there seemed to be a purple aura around it. It looked around.

"Nice... OK everybody... Freeze!"

On cue, it unleashed a wave that froze several bystanders solid. Anyone who wasn't affected ran.

* * *

The plate on Jon's morpher began to flash red.

"Well, that's not a good sign..."

* * *

When he arrived in the clearing, everyone else was waiting.

"What's happening?"

_It seems that a Dark Pokémon has made direct contact._

The Light Screen showed what happened when the Snover arrived.

"That's... How can we reverse that?"

_The only way I know of is to destroy the source; You must stop that Dark Pokémon.

* * *

_

The Dark Snover was stood in the street, examining its latest victims.

"Heheh... Too easy."

It was about to leave, when...

"Hold it right there!"

It turned to see all six Rangers lined up behind it, unmorphed.

"Hey! I wasn't expecting to see you lot here!"

"Well, I guess we're full of surprises!"

The Snover waved its hand, summoning a number of Karicas. They stood there, twitching.

"Guess what? So am I!"

Jon grabbed his morpher from its place on his belt.

"Everyone ready?"

"Ready!" Everyone else prepped their own morphers.

"Power of Light, PokéRangers Unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

"Black Staraptor Power!"

* * *

The first Karica to reach the line was dropped when James made a clothes-line strike where its neck should have been. It fell over backwards and exploded. Sonja dropped and swept the legs out from underneath another. Alex tossed the Raptorang, which cut a swathe through the ranks as it flew. Lucas, however, opted to charge straight for the Snover, Hydro-fin drawn.

"Take..."

"Not so fast there!" It called, and a strange cracking noise filled the air as it froze him solid, his sword falling harmlessly to the ground with a clang. A cloud of mist hung around its hands, which quickly dissipated as Taki struck it in the chest with a bolt of psychic energy.

"Well that wasn't very nice!" It shouted, before unleashing a beam of ice that scattered the remaining five.

* * *

"This isn't going according to plan!" Jon shouted as the Snover chased them even further down the street.

"We've never had a plan!" Alex retorted, firing off a bolt from his Blaster at the Snover, which caught it in the shoulder and nearly knocked it off balance. It responded with another beam of ice that covered the road, turning what areas that had been cleared of snow into a shimmering white sheet. Jon drew the Fire Tail and spun it a few times.

"Well, I think I've got one. All I need is a distraction."

* * *

"Hey? Where'd they all go?" The Snover looked around; but the five Rangers had vanished into thin air.

"Surprise!" James popped up from behind a parked car and fired off a blaster bolt. However, before it could freeze him, another bolt hit it in the back; Sonja had made it behind him. The cycle continued, with four Rangers shooting at it before it could freeze any of them.

* * *

While all this was going on, Jon slid to a stop in front of Lucas. Or at least, he would have, except he slipped on a patch of ice and slammed into his leg.

_Ow._ _OK, here goes._

He spun the Fire Tail, building up a fireball, before swinging it into the ice; shattering it and freeing Lucas.

"...This!" He paused. "What happened?"

"You got iced. Quite badly."

Lucas picked up the Hydro-fin from where he'd dropped it.

"Well, here goes."

* * *

The Snover had recovered from the barrage, and faced down the four Rangers.

"End of the line guys!"

Behind it, the sound of an engine or two could be heard.

"I don't think so somehow." Alex shouted back.

As if on cue, Jon and Lucas jumped from the back of their Garchomp cycles and struck the Snover in the back, causing it to stumble and fall. However, it was quickly back on its feet.

"How do we stop it? If we set up the Storm Cannon, it'll just freeze us all at once!" Taki called out.

"Leave that to me." Jon summoned his crystal, then tossed it into the air, shooting it once with his blaster. "Crystal Armour, Energise!"

"Pretty lightshow, but do you think that's really going to stop me?" It fired a beam at him, but he zipped out of the way.

"Yup." Jon drew both Ice swords from his back, and launched himself at the Snover, delivering a scissor-attack, which was met with a large shower of sparks where it impacted. He slammed both blades together. "Ice Beam!"

The glistening beam struck the dark Snover and consumed it in a massive fireball.

* * *

_How inconvenient. Very well...

* * *

_

On cue, a legion of Karicas swarmed out of the shadows, causing the Snover to grow.

"Here we go again." James sighed.

"You said it. PokéZords, engage!" Jon shouted. On the call, the five main zords awoke, and headed for Veilstone City, teleporting the Rangers to their respective cockpits.

"Sinnoh Megazord, combination sequence, go!"

The five Zords combined to form the giant mech, staring down the Snover as it fired another beam that caused an explosion behind it.

"Staraptor Zord, Launch!" Alex called, summoning his Zord from above the clouds.

"Sinnoh Ultrazord, initiate!"

The Staraptor Zord split apart and joined onto the existing mech, which drew its sword.

"Here we go! Psycho Cut!" Alex shouted, causing the sword's blade to glow pink. The Megazord then slashed into the dark Snover, sending a torrent of sparks into the street below.

"Sky Attack!" Everyone called at once. The Megazord grabbed the Snover, and tossed it into the air, before taking off after it, and slashing through it each time it moved past. Finally, it delivered a spinning attack that launched the Snover to parts unknown.

* * *

With the Snover destroyed, everyone it had frozen slowly returned to normal.

* * *

"_The recent spate of mysterious freezings came to an end following the intervention of the PokéRangers..."_

"Makes you wonder if they have anything else to talk about?" Lucas mused out loud. Then a snowball smashed into the side of his head. He turned to see his sister stood by the Sports Centre's door, grinning evilly, before running outside again. "Oh, get back here you..." He stood up, catapulting his chair back, and gave chase. Jon sighed.

"We should have seen this coming..." He shrugged, got up, and ran out after the pair. The others quickly followed, and soon enough there was a fairly sizeable snowball fight going on outside the centre.


	15. Chapter 15: Ripples in Time, Part One

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Fifteen – Ripples in Time, Part One

The three teens sat up from where they'd landed on the grass.

"Where are we?"

* * *

Present Day – Two hours earlier.

For perhaps the first time since the seal had been broken fully, it was quiet in the city. No Karicas hiding in every shadow, no dark facsimiles of Pokémon causing havoc.

There was a reason for this. Deep within the caverns beneath Mount Coronet, the Darkrai was planning something. That would have been obvious, at least to anyone that could have seen it. Not that anyone could. What it was planning, though, would remain a mystery, at least for the time being.

The fact it was quiet for once didn't go unnoticed, with most of the Rangers trying to enjoy themselves for once. But not all.

* * *

Sonja was sat on the cliff, looking out to sea. To the untrained eye, she looked perfectly fine; but looking beyond, it was possible to see that the spark in her eyes was starting to dim; everything that had happened to her was starting to catch up to her.

"Hey? You OK?"

She turned to see Lucas stood behind her.

"Yeah. What made you think I wasn't?"

"Because almost every day since we got sent into that illusion you've come out here. You've become a heck of a lot more withdrawn, and when you actually do say something you're a lot quieter than you used to be. So yeah, I have every right to think something's up."

"You're right." She looked down, the shadow from her hair hiding her eyes. "It's just..."

And then the tremors started.

* * *

_This is not good. Not good at all._

One by one the Rangers began to filter into the clearing as the tremors continued.

_I believe that someone or something is attempting to interfere with a powerful artefact deep within the tunnels._

"Do you know what?" Alex asked.

_I fear it is the Pedestal of the Ages; if it is, then the consequences have the potential to be very dire indeed._

"How bad?" Taki spoke up.

_He who gains control of the Pedestal gains the ability to move through time. In the wrong hands, the consequences do not bear thinking about._

"So basically, whoever manages to activate it could go back in time and manipulate history for their own ends?" Jon wondered.

_Correct. In any event there is not much time._

* * *

The Pedestal of the Ages resided in what appeared to be a temple hall that had been buried deep beneath the earth; whether it was built like that or buried by some unknown force, no-one knew; in fact, no-one on the surface even knew the artefact or the temple existed.

The six Rangers teleported into the chamber, to find the Pedestal glowing, and the rings carved into the surface rotating, the direction altering from one ring to the next through the concentric layout. And stood behind the Pedestal, manipulating it was...

_Hello Rangers._

The Absol the team had run into in the tunnels before. All six dropped into various fighting stances. None of them had really been trained fighters when the whole ordeal had begun, but they'd learned on the fly.

Whilst I must commend you for making it here so quickly, I am afraid I cannot allow you to interfere any further.

It waved a hand, summoning a mass of Karicas to surround the pedestal, blocking in the Rangers. All six readied their morphers.

"Here we go again. Power of Light, PokéRangers Unite! Red Infernape Power!"

"Blue Empoleon Power!"

"Yellow Pachirisu Power!"

"Green Torterra Power!"

"Pink Medicham Power!"

"Black Staraptor Power!"

As usual, the burst of light that accompanied six Rangers morphing at once made the Karicas recoil, but they soon regained whatever composure they had and charged. They had changed as well, and were now more prepared to fight dirty than they had been before, where they would simply rush and swipe. One tried to jump onto Lucas' chest and force him to the floor, however he caught it and threw it into the waiting crowd, with a sound not unlike a bowling ball striking the pins. James blasted several into dust with a rapid volley from his blaster, before turning and punching one that had tried to hamstring him.

However, as the Karicas distracted the Rangers, the Absol returned to manipulating the Pedestal. The light emanating from it began to intensify, and a vortex of some description began to form at the center.

"Oh no you don't!" Alex dived at the Absol, attempting to tackle it to keep it away from the portal. It simply swatted him away without even looking round. Taki launched a set of arrows into its back, however like before they dissipated harmlessly. Jon was able to catch its leg with the Fire Tail, bringing it to the floor, however it simply started crawling towards the portal, dragging him along with it. With one final, pained gasp, it entered the portal, generating a shockwave that spread through the chamber, whiting out everything.

* * *

However, it wasn't the only one. Jon had been pulled through by the Fire Tail still wrapped around the Absol's leg, Sonja had tried to make a diving strike with her stingers, and James had been knocked back into the portal by one of the Karicas. They sat up where they'd landed, in a field somewhere, the trip through time having de-morphed them.

"Where are we?" James wondered aloud. "Although I suppose a better question would be when are we?" He was right to be confused; there was nothing to suggest they were anywhere near anything remotely close to civilization as they knew it.

A flock of Starly flew overhead. It was the only movement they could see. James slid his morpher back into place on his waist band.

"OK, I can't get hold of anyone, so it looks like we're the only ones in the here and now."

"But what does that mean?" Sonja asked.

"It means that if they did get pulled in, they could be anywhere and at any time." Jon rationalised. "Unless they didn't get pulled in, in which case they're back in the cavern with the Pedestal in what we consider to be the present."

"Unless time's already been screwed up, then who knows what happened." James seemed grim.

"Right. It stands to reason that if the Absol made it back through time, then the present has already adjusted for any actions it takes in this time period."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning the timestream has been altered, and we need to get it back on course..." James noted, looking out at the small town in the distance.


	16. Chapter 16: Ripples in Time, Part Two

All right, let's get this started then.

First up, the legal stuff. It's pointless and has no real weight, but it's here anyway.

All characters, locations and concepts are the properties of their respective copyright holders, whoever that may be. Since no-one reads my stuff, it's unlikely that I'm gonna get sued over it, and I'd be flattered either way, but please don't.

Second, content warning. As those few among you who are familiar with my earlier work will probably have guessed, this fic contains definite Self-Insertion/Sue and probable Canon Defilement. If any of this offends you, stop reading **NOW**. Although why are you reading fan-fiction if you get offended by Canon Defilement?

Now that all that pretentious rubbish is out of the way...

Poké Rangers: Darkness Rising

Chapter Sixteen – Ripples in Time, Part Two

The town was quiet. Maybe a little too quiet.

"This doesn't make sense. If we did land in the same time as the Absol, you'd think everywhere'd be swarming with Karicas." Sonja made a quick glance over her shoulder to be sure a load hadn't popped up behind her as she tempted fate.

"Unless we arrived before it did." Jon kicked a stone idly, sending it bouncing away.

"So what do we do?" James asked.

"Find the Pedestal and destroy it, probably."

"Why?"

"Because if we destroy it now, then it's not going to be there in the present, or rather the future." Jon came up with a plan off hand.

"Yes, but the reason I didn't suggest that myself is that by doing that we risk making one hell of a paradox."

"Eh?"

James sighed. He hated being the only apparently intelligent one sometimes.

"If we destroy the pedestal, or even render it inaccessible, we remove the reason and the means by which we came back in time. As a result we didn't go back, meaning the Pedestal remains intact, so we did, and so on until reality implodes from the contradiction."

"Okay..." Jon didn't understand temporal mechanics. "But the problem is that if we leave it intact, then all we're doing is causing a loop."

"Hang on. Do we even know where the pedestal is, or how we're gonna get there?" Sonja spoke up. "Because I'm pretty sure we can't teleport there."

* * *

Of course, just because something starts quiet doesn't mean it stays quiet for long. A single Karica skittered out of the shadows, passed behind the trio, and vanished again. It re-appeared elsewhere, and silently told the Absol what it had seen.

_Hmm... So some of them made it through._

It pondered this development briefly.

_They may not all be there, but never the less I cannot risk their interference. Go; destroy them._

* * *

The three teens had found a bolt-hole of sorts and attempted to take stock of their surroundings. Mount Coronet and the other mountains in the range could be seen to the east, meaning they'd crossed over into the western half of the region. The buildings were all of a slightly archaic style, and there were relatively few of them, compared with the bustling cities that dotted the region in their own time. Of course, this was swiftly interrupted by a scream; the first indication there was even anyone else around. James looked out into the street.

"Karicas. Eight of them. Maybe more."

Sonja sighed deeply.

"So we aren't alone here any more."

* * *

The three Rangers dropped off a roof and into the street, already morphed. At once, the eight Karicas they could see merged together to form a Houndoom, which launched a stream of fire at them as more of them swarmed out of the shadows. The three scattered, taking pot-shots as they did so. Most of these shots went wild, blowing pieces out of the buildings and sending masonry crashing to the street below. Jon switched his blaster into sword-mode, and took a swing at the nearest Karica, catapulting it away like a baseball. Another tried to charge James, only to bounce straight off his shield.

* * *

Another firestream made the Rangers scatter again, this time forcing them into an alleyway.

"This is hopeless. None of our attacks are even making a dent in that Houndoom." Sonja was breathing heavily.

"Looks like we'll have to be devious then." Jon checked his blaster, before holstering it again. "Get up onto the rooftops. I'll distract it."

* * *

With the Rangers gone, the Houndoom had begun trying to flash-fry the buildings instead. However, stone doesn't take fire very well, so it was having little success.

"Hey, hot head! How's about you pick on something that'll actually burn?" Jon called out, putting a blaster shot over its head. It turned, and launched a Fire Blast at him. He rolled to one side, and the blast simply detonated against a wall, blowing a large chunk out of it. Looking up, he could see two figures running across the rooftops.

"You in position yet?"

"_Almost. Hold on."_

The Houndoom almost looked up, something which brought it a blaster bolt to the flank.

"Hey! Keep it over here!"

"_We're ready."_

Jon put one more spread into the Dark Pokémon's side. It snarled, and began to walk slowly towards him, growling as it did so. Right into their impromptu kill-zone.

"Fire!"

On cue, the other two opened up, pouring shots into the base of a partly destroyed building, bringing one wall crashing over the Houndoom, causing it to explode in a cloud of shadow-matter.

* * *

However, even with this threat gone, there was still the issue of them not knowing what the Absol was doing, or where to start looking for it.

"OK, so we're back at square one. What do we do now?" Sonja looked back at the plume of smoke rising out of the town in the distance.

"I think it's time we checked in with an old friend." Jon tapped his gauntlet.

* * *

The clearing on Fullmoon Island was as quiet as ever, lit only by the light filtering through the canopy above. At least, until the teleporter engaged, bathing the clearing in red, yellow and green light briefly. Everything in the clearing looked a lot younger than it did before.

_Who goes there?_

A familiar voice drifted out of the trees, as a ball of light dropped down from the canopy.

_Strange. I do not recall bestowing this power on anyone at this point in time._

"Long story." Jon unclipped and removed his helmet. "And it involves the Pedestal of Ages." _Or should that be involved, or will involve? I hate tenses sometimes._ He thought to himself. The ball buzzed around the clearing, looking at each of them in turn.

_The Pedestal, you say?_

"Yup. One of the Darkrai's minions used it to travel back here. We got dragged along for the ride." Jon explained about the Absol, and what had happened to lead up to that point. The ball gave what could almost be termed a quizzical expression, if a faceless sphere of light could actually emote.

_...This may be more serious than you think then. Not least because if what you are saying is true, then the seal placed on the Darkrai is not infallible. However, it is possible that the minion who came back through time using the pedestal is attempting to break the seal now when there is no-one to stand against it._

"So what do we do?" James spoke up.

* * *

Deep beneath Mount Coronet, the Absol stood in a cavern before a heavily engraved stone wall, covered in images of a great battle and a large number of strange runic symbols.

_Now then; I guess it is time to free you from this prison, my master..._

A faint buzzing noise sounded behind it.

"Hold it right there!"

The Absol turned to see the three Rangers lined up behind it, weapons drawn.

_This is pathetic. All six of you couldn't beat me. What makes you think you can do it at half strength?_

A blaster bolt struck it in the chest, making it stagger back

_What? But how?_

"We're at half strength, but you're not at full power either; not without the link to your master."

The Absol sighed, and formed a pair of dark energy blades on its arms, in addition to four tentacles squirming around behind it.

"OK, this is new."

_You think you have seen all I have to give? Think again._

* * *

And then it charged.

Its first sweep went wide, not helped by the fact all three Rangers managed to dodge quite easily. However, it was simply a distraction from the second, which knocked Jon to the ground and catapulted James into the air, where he was quickly grabbed and constricted by one of the tentacles. However, this was quickly stopped as a sharp shock racked the Absol's body, causing it to drop him, as Sonja climbed onto its back, and began ramming her stingers in. Within a few seconds, though, one of the tentacles whipped around and slapped her off, sending her rolling across the floor. By this time, James had recovered and launched a full-on shoulder charge at the Absol, the energy concentrated on the spike in the centre of his Shell Shield. The impact, when it came, was accompanied by a rather ominous _crack_ as something broke. The Absol stumbled back, its body sparking purple.

"I think it's time we finished this." Jon summoned his crystal, which illuminated the chamber as it glowed. "Crystal Armour, energise!" As usual, he threw the crystal into the air and shot it, summoning the armour over his suit with an energy wave. He drew the two ice swords off his back. The Absol regained its footing, and readied its own blades.

_Do you really think that is going to help?_

"Let's find out." Jon charged, aiming to deliver a scissor-strike to the gut. However, the Absol blocked him, the impact of the blades generating a shockwave that spread through the whole chamber. Jon responded with a roundhouse kick to roughly the same spot, followed up with a stab with his right sword. The Absol swatted him away, but the stab had done its work. Jon slotted the swords together, causing them to glow.

"Now it really is time to finish this. ICE BEAM!" He shouted, as the beam of light lanced out of the swords and straight into the torso of the Absol. Small purple explosions began to blossom out of it, and it fell to the floor before finally detonating, sending an even bigger shockwave through the cavern, damaging the rune wall. The Absol was no more.

* * *

"Erm... Is that good?" Sonja looked at the wall. Some of the runes had started glowing faintly.

"You seeing this?" Jon held one hand to the side of his helmet, activating the communicator.

"_Yes. I am. And it is not a good thing at all."_

"How so?"

"_It means the seal has been weakened. It may only be a few days, it might be centuries, but now the seal is almost guaranteed to fail."_

_Brilliant. We come back to stop the release from happening early, only to wind up causing it to happen in the first place._

"What can we do?"

"_Nothing, for the moment; the seal is too badly damaged to fully repair. All you can do now is return to your own time, and attempt to restore it on that end."_

* * *

The temple containing the Pedestal of Ages was rather blatantly less ravaged by the passage of time than it had been in the "present". The chamber glowed briefly as the three rangers teleported in, before a portal opened and they disappeared.

* * *

Back in the "present", the other three rangers were hanging around in the chamber, waiting, when the portal opened and threw them out.

"What happened?" Lucas asked.

"Long story." Jon sighed.

* * *

"OK, let me see if I got this right. That Absol thing went back to try and spring Darkrai early, you stopped it, but in the process set up his release a few months ago?" Alex was confused.

"Pretty much. But the point is, that thing's not coming back. Not the same one anyway." The group was back on Fullmoon Island, musing over what had happened. Except two of them.

* * *

"You know, we never finished that talk." Lucas walked up to behind where Sonja was sat on the cliff again, still looking out to sea.

"No, we didn't. And you were right; I have changed." She sighed, and almost looked like she was about to cry. "It's just... I'm scared. After what happened in that illusion, I've been afraid of it happening for real."

"It's OK." Lucas hugged her, pulling her head against his chest. "We'll stop it. Together. That's what family's for, right?"

Some of the colour returned to her face, and she smiled.

"Yeah. Together."


End file.
